Food Wars! A Knife's Edge
by BleachCadelina
Summary: Rue Karios has had a difficult life for one so young. Despite his age, his cooking has been praised by many prestigious food critics, and he's finally been enrolled to Totsuki Culinary Arts Academy. Will he be able to tear down the balconies of those who look down upon him and end up on top? Takes place X years after SnS canon universe.
1. Chapter 1: Morning Before It All Begins

"Ru-Ru!" My eyes are remaining closed. I don't care what day it is, just give me ten more minutes of peace. "Ru-Ru, you gotta get ready for class!" Her voice, usually pleasing to my ears, was now the warning siren to what should be another rough day. She's not going to win this time; I will not succumb to her attempts to wake me.

"Ru-Ru…" No. Don't do it. Don't you dare, that's cheating. "Y-you h-have to," Her voice was wavering, sounding as though she were about to burst into tears. ""W-w-wake uuuuuuuup!"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" I sat upright in a shot and looked at my little sister. There she stood at my bedside, beaming because she won, yet again. "You little devil." I smirk and rub my eyes.

"Well, you weren't getting up," Ayanna was rocking on the heels of her feet. "And I know that you know that I know how to get you up." She stuck her tongue out cutely.

"Well, I suppose you're right about." _You little shit, you're lucky you're cute_ , I think. I decide against saying that. "What's for breakfast?" I ask.

"Since Uncle left early for work, I made breakfast today." Ayanna explained while I got out of bed and put on slippers. "Eggs and bacon, the way you like it!"

"Thanks, Ayanna." I patted her head, which was rewarded with a pout and scowl after. "Let me shower, I'll be there in a bit." With a nod, my little sister left me to do my stuff.

I enter the only bathroom in the house, lock the door and quickly disrobe. Many thoughts are racing through my head. _Start of high school's here. Gotta do good._ That thought resonated the most. Entering the shower, I was met with one of my best friends, hot water shot out of the showerhead and covering me in a relaxing warmth; this was the only way I could ever really wake up in the morning.

Uncle Bokono is back to work nowadays because I'm going to school full time. While I did attend regular middle school classes, I was also working a part time job at the same time. While not the best thing for any normal kids under 13 to be doing, but it was necessary with a little sister in the house. Bokono Shen, our uncle, has been taking care of us for a good while, but his health isn't as good as it used to be. So I had to work at a local diner. I was just a busboy at first. Then some guy in a suit came in early one morning while I was opening the place. I insisted that the diner was closed, but he insisted more that he be served something.

I panicked. This guy wanted a meal. And he was asking it from a mere child! I've only been watching what the chefs have been making. But I had no idea how to cook. I barely trusted myself to clean knives, let alone use one!

About ten minutes and a miracle of a memory later, I managed to create a decent looking version of one of the more popular, hence the one I've seen prepared most often, and supposedly best tasting dishes: a beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and celery. I decided to hide while the man ate his meal; I didn't want to be yelled at for just throwing something together just by watching it being made. I heard the chef's voice enter the diner, and the eating man answered. He sounded happy, glad to have eaten my food. The chef of the diner found me later and talked to me. It was then he decided to take me under his wing and learn how to cook.

The water flowed and pushed the suds out of my hair and off my body. I was just staring out into space now, reminiscing. I waited for the suds to be completely off of me before turning off the shower and exiting the bathroom with a towel around my waist, and made for my room.

I got dressed in the school uniform, but decided against wearing the suit jacket. I put on one of my many thin, gray zip-up hoodies to go on top of the uniform's white dress shirt. The blue pants and blue tie that finished off the ensemble complimented the sweater.

Looking at the mirror in my room, I saw a miserable young man. Of course, what right mind would ever find the first day of school enjoyable? My short gray hair remained unruly and I remained too lazy to do anything about it. The bags under my eyes showed how tired I was; I hate mornings. I had my dress shirt sleeves rolled up my forearm; it's too hot today for me to wear it full out with my sweater. I got my messenger bag of school supplies and suitcase of personal knives, and headed to the kitchen.

"There you are!" Ayanna exclaimed. "Took ya long enough." She placed the aforementioned eggs and bacon on the table. "Eat up, Ru-Ru! You're gonna need the energy for that test!"

"Right." I mumble. "The test." See, I was just transferring into the Spring semester, as many have tried and failed. I was too busy during the fall reorganizing my personal and work schedules to have been enrolled in the school.

Taking a bite of my breakfast, I sighed. It was good; just another basic breakfast that was pleasing to my taste buds. After more than three years of experience in the nondescript diner under the tutelage of a very talented chef who taught me many things, it was going to take something unique to turn my head.

I look up to Ayanna, my sweet little angel of a sister. Her long, dark purple hair was pinned up into twin tails and bounced with every step. She was much more bubbly than most 11-year olds these days, and her presence never fails to leave me smiling.

"Be careful on your way to school," I said after several mouthfuls of her cooking. "And make sure to listen to Uncle Bokono while I'm gone."

"I will," She answered. "And I'll do my best to write letters as much as I can!"

"You mean e-mails, right?" I asked, to which she confirmed with a nod. "I'll do my best to respond as soon as possible to each of them."

"Y-you better!" Ayanna suddenly sounded sad. Tears were in the corners of her eyes. "You don't even get to come home, so you better e-mail me back! I'll tell you all about what happens, and you should do the same!" I looked down at my little sister, slightly taken aback. An awkward silence filled in the space.

"Ayanna," I break the silence after a moment of contemplation. "I promise, as your big brother, to answer back to every e-mail, call, letter, or whatever you send to me, as soon as possible. You're my little sister. I'm never going to forget about you."

"Y-you better n-not!" Ayanna smiled, still teary-eyed. She then approached me and gives me a hug, which I gladly return. "I love you Ru-Ru."

"I love you too, Ayanna." I reply. "And uh… make sure not to use that nickname whenever you visit my dorms, ok?"

"Um… no promises?" She answers cutely. I rustle the top of her head before handing the empty plate to her. "Please be careful out there, Ru-Ru."

"Well, I'm headed off now." I announce. The clock chimed eight times; the scheduled cab should be out in front by now. "I'll keep in touch. Take care of Uncle." I walked out of our little home, and was greeted by the sight of a black cab idling in the street.

After getting into the rear of the cab, I look out the window and see Ayanna rushing out to meet me. _Now, what?_ I think. _I'm gonna be late, Ayanna_. I roll down the window and she manages to say through her gasping breaths.

"If you ever have a girlfriend," Ayanna starts, and I'm instantly somehow interested to what she has to say, "You better let me meet her first!" Her normally placid, light blue eyes flashed with such an intense fire, all I did to respond was nod and as reply.

"Yes, ma'am." Note to self: Ayanna can be scary. Note taken. Oh dear me and whoever is unfortunate to be my girlfriend and is therefore to be subjected to my little sister. With my answer sounding sufficient enough to her, she slapped the back of the cab.

"He's good to go cabbie!" She yelled to the driver, which elicited a quiet chuckle from the man in front of me. "Have fun, Ru-Ru!"

The car left the front of my home, and I watched my little sister's figure disappear into the early morning mist. There was still enough time for me to get some shut-eye, then contemplate on what could be the start of my career as a chef: the Totsuki Transfer Exam.


	2. Chapter 2: Transfer Exam Part 1

I was daydreaming for pretty much the entire ride to Totsuki. This eventually led to me asking silent questions to no one in particular. What was going to happen? Will the transfer exam be difficult? Will the proctor be lenient? Doubt it. Will it be written, or will they have us cook something? I had my earphones one, and my phone had shuffled onto some video game's instrumental theme. My eyes watched the trees fly by as we continued getting closer to my destination.

 _I've got to keep cool_. I thought to myself. _This place is elite. I can't let anyone get to me here. Just cook, Rue. That's all you need to do._ I closed my eyes; watching the scenery was starting to give me a slight headache. Eventually, without realizing, I managed to knock out. I was woken up by the driver vigorously shaking my right leg from his seat. We had finally reached the destination. I checked my phone, which was still playing music. _9:30, huh?_ I thought. _That's quite a commute from home to here. Kinda glad I'm dorming._

"Thanks," I exited the cab and thanked the driver, watching his black car drive away and into the distance. I turn around and look up at the prestigious, elite school, the Totsuki Culinary Arts Academy. After taking a deep breath and a silent prayer to no one in particular, I stepped through the gates and took my first steps onto the Totsuki campus.

The school's majesty was great, in both size and atmosphere. The air seemed calm, but I could feel that many others have made this same journey; only a small percentage walked out successful. I balled my fists into balls, took yet another calming breath, and then walked towards the nearest building.

"Hey," I approached a busy looking dressed-up lady at the front desk, typing on a computer. "Could you direct me to the transfer exam place?" She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow, seemingly confused at my question.

"Transfer exam?" She repeated, before giving a small smile of understanding. "At least you know you're in the wrong building. The exam will take place in Kitchen Examination Hall B. You have about," she looked back at her computer before continuing, "I'd say about 15 minutes to run there before they close the doors. It's straight up this road. You're lucky on that one." With that, I thanked her and parted with a quick wave before starting a straight-out sprint up the road I was originally on.

She was right; within minutes, I had arrived in front of a large building with Hall B imprinted boldly on a sign above two large metal doors. A decent sized crowd was gathered in front of it. I could see at least eight people glare at me and size me up as I approached the group. I stopped for a moment, as if to let them do so.

 _Why did I stop?_ I looked to meet their respective gazes. _I shouldn't be afraid of them. I'm damn sure I have so much more experience than at least half of these guys._ I observed how they were dressed; a majority of them were dressed up well in tuxedos and fancy dresses that alluded their wealth. _So they may be heirs to their parents' businesses_. So I had competition from the upper class – really not a problem for me. I rarely let people get to me. _I'll let my cooking define me, not my status_. I showed them a confident smile; I would not be fazed by their appearance. A few of them sneered and turned their noses up at me before turning to their conversation partners. Some of the girl students raised their eyebrows at me; a few of them smirked. I tried to ignore that, some of them were quite cute looking. I took a breath and decided to go to the side of the bulk, where there was more space for me to stand and wait for the doors to open. I put my earbuds back on as I waited for the doors to open. I saw a few more students walk up to the building. After a few more minutes, the doors were opened and we walked into a foreboding atmosphere.

The room was near empty, except for a line of tables near the front of the room. There was an assortments of kitchen utensils. I could hear murmurs from the students around the room, asking questions regarding the identity of the test's proctor, what the test could be, and more subjects that seemed irrelevant at this time. I looked back to see the doors closing, but also heard a voice calling out from beyond them.

"Hey!" A voice was heard from a little past the doors. "Hold the doors, someone please!" Looking around the room, only a few seem to have heard him; all who did pretended to have not to. I sighed, knowing I'd have to be the Good Samaritan here. Running to the doors as they began to close slowly on their own, I realized how heavy they were. If I wasn't forced to bulk up a little to help out in the diner back then, I doubt I could have just barely held the doors as I was now.

"Hurry up!" I yell out, straining against an imminently closing door. "I can't hold this door for much longer!" My eyes were closed, as one usually does when straining against a force. I finally opened my eyes when I heard footsteps approaching rapidly. "Come on, already!" I was about to say something until I saw who I was holding the door for: a pale, Caucasian girl with dark red hair and bright green eyes was zooming by me, hair and skirt billowing in the wind behind her. Something in me pushed the door with even more gusto; something in me did _not_ want this girl to miss this exam. After was seemed like an eternity, she made it past the doors, and I finally let the metal monster close us in.

"Thanks," she said between breaths. She apparently also didn't like the uniform's blazer, opting for a light blue cardigan. "I really appreciate it."

"Yeah," I replied, arms a little sore and my lungs slowly recovering from the ordeal. Asthma sucks, kids. Hope you don't have it, too. "No problem."

"I'm glad at least one person seems to have a kind soul in them," She said after a while, offering a hand. "I'm Lyra. Lyra Caldwell."

"Rue Karios." I took her hand and shook it. "And Caldwell? You speak Japanese quite well for someone of Irish descent."

"Yet your last name sound European as well." She retorts. "We all have our ways to learn, Rue."

"I suppose." I answer with a shrug. "So would you happen to know what this exam might be?"

"No clue."

"As expected."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"N-nothing about you, just that everyone's clueless about it here!" Lyra glared at me for a second before smiling and giggling.

"Well," She began. "I'm glad I'm able to make some friends here."

"Alright everyone!" A new voice from the front silenced all conversation, but the person's mere presence was enough for the majority of the crowd to murmur in fear of them. Standing at the front of the room was the illustrious Erina Nakiri, the "God's Palette," a young woman that was part of one of the most powerful families in the culinary world. Many were naïve enough to challenge her, and only one had succeeded. "I'll be the one to judge this exam."

However, the most pressing matter of the whole situations was that the damn _Headmistress of Totsuki_ was to be our transfer exam proctor. It wasn't unusual, but it was common sense that she would only accept the best of the best.

"You're all here for the transfer exam, yes?" She spoke again, and was responded with a group answer of, "Yes, ma'am."

"Then you know what I expect of those who are foolish enough to think Totsuki will let _anyone_ past their gates?" Another "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Her eyes surfed the crowd of students. I could see the intense and determination in her eyes when she look in the direction of me and Lyra.

"Your exam is to make me your self-proclaimed, 'specialty dish." She announced. "If your legs are too shaky to hold your body up, if you are truly a coward in a world of culinary war, if you know you don't truly belong here, then you are free to leave!" She pointed towards the door. I could see sweat and tears on students' faces already. I looked to Lyra, who swallowed and looked to me. I slowly shook my head no, as if to say _I'm not leaving_. She nodded at this.

"You have a minute to vacate the premises." She calmly stated. "Starting… now."

Upon hearing the last word, the crowd of students shifted en masse towards the door, leaving Lyra, myself, and two other students, a boy and a girl.

"So you have no fear of the "God's Tongue?" Headmistress Nakiri asked. "You have confidence in your cooking?" I nodded, along with the remaining three students.

"Good." She said. She then flicked her long, golden-orange hair and announced, "Now bring me your dish!"


	3. Chapter 3: Transfer Exam Part 2

"Now," Headmistress Erina Nakiri spoke, "Bring me your dish!"

With that last word, men in suits brought in four tables, one for each of the remaining students, and rested them in front of us. These stations came with pots and pans and multiple stovetops. Getting a better look at the table behind the Headmistress, I saw that the tables from earlier were now fully stocked on one side with various cuts of meats and the other side held various vegetables, common and exotic in nature.

"You have until half past noon." She announced; it was currently 10 o' clock. "Begin!"

I shrugged off my backpack, letting it fall to the floor. I put my knives-case on the table and opened it, and pushed it to the side for now. I needed to think of what to do. I could already hear the others running to the front table.

 _Okay_ , I was taking deep breaths. _How long will it take for me to make my dish? I know I can make it, but do I have time for it?_

I've done this dish more times than others, but I wouldn't exactly call it a specialty dish. It's a Filipino beef dish that I ended up liking a lot in the diner because so many people said my version was similar to homemade versions of it.

"Alright," I say to no one in particular. I raise my left hand to my mouth, kissing the black ring on my ring finger. I then pulled a green beanie from my backpack and wore it to serve as a hairnet. "Let's do this."

I grabbed a pot and placed in on the stove, setting the fire to high and letting the stainless steel heat up. I ran up to the ingredients table up front, already somewhat behind the other three students. I saw Headmistress Nakiri watch me with raised eyebrows, but I tried not to pay attention to her; I can't let too much pressure get to me. I grabbed the ingredients I needed and ran back to my station, laid out my supplies accordingly and brought my knife out, ready to make my dish.

"A beef dish?" Headmistress Nakiri walked by my station; I hadn't even heard her footsteps. "I hope whatever you're making doesn't come out too poorly, you're quite a bit behind the others."

Looking up from my materials, I saw the three other students already mixing their concoctions in their pans or pots. The other boy, who had dark purple hair down to his shoulders and light blue eyes, seemed to be waiting by a steaming pot. The Headmistress was still at my station, apparently waiting for some kind of response from me.

"I don't plan on serving something I don't think is good, Headmistress." She seemed surprised that I even answered her comment at all. Before I could say anything more, she walked away. I cubed the aforementioned meat, and I could feel a little sweat already forming around my forehead.

After a few more minutes of heating the pot, I poured in some cooking oil. While I waited for the oil to heat up a little, I diced the onions and garlic and poured them into the pot, letting it sauté. Quickly after that, I added the cubed beef, mixed the pot's contents with a metal spoon, and let it sit so it could cook.

Looking over to Lyra's station, she seemed to be muttering something under her breath. Her left hand was holding her wok while her right hand vigorously mixed the contents. Her long, red hair was tied up into a ponytail, and she would lightly tug on it every once in a while. _Some kind of calming habit?_ I think to myself before turning back to my own cooking.

I looked into my pot, and to my satisfaction, the beef was a nice, cooked brown. I brought out my metal spoon and pressed against it; it gave in a little, indicating softness. I nodded at this and immediately lowered the heat to a low-medium setting. Scanning through my ingredients, I found one of the more important ingredients flavor-wise, dried bay leaves. I took three from the container, added them to the pot and mixed the contents. Another ingredient I found on the meat side up front was liver, which usually goes well with beef, pork, and goat dishes, depending on what one makes. I cut little thins

I stirred the mixture after adding the liver slices and grabbed two other ingredients vital to this mix, tomato sauce and beef broth! I looked up again, and Headmistress Nakiri was looking around the room. She saw me holding up a can of tomato sauce, and turn her nose up.

 _What?_ I thought. I shrugged and returned my focus back to my cooking. I pour in about a cup of the tomato sauce and two cups of the broth. _I mean, if they supply me with this stuff, I shouldn't be given flack for using them._ I look ahead to the other girl, while letting my dish cook. She was the shortest the shortest of the four of us, with brown hair. I couldn't see her face because she never turned my way. She was almost finished cooking and was getting ready to plate her dish. I looked to my pot; I had about thirty minutes to let my beef become tender.

"Headmistress!" The other young man spoke up; his dish plated neatly in his hand. "Please judge my dish!" It was a fish platter from the glances I stole his way, but I wasn't close enough to tell. Ms. Nakiri made her way to the station.

"Is this Pasta Niçoise?" She commented. She took the plate and chopsticks in her hand to examine it before taking a piece of the tuna dish and allowing her God's Tongue to judge it.

"Well," the boy began, "Since the olives here weren't actually Niçoise olives, as the original recipe says, I would say that it isn't. But the concept is all the same." He spoke slowly; he wasn't very good at Japanese yet. Headmistress Nakiri stayed silent as he spoke.

 _A French fish specialist?_ I contemplated what I could learn from him. I've read up some French recipes in the diner, but I want to see what he can do.

After a moment, Nakiri swallowed and spoke. "What is your name, young man?"

"Jaime DuBois." He said.

"Well then, Dubois," She repeated his name, as paused, as if for dramatic effect. "You fail."

" ** _WHAT?_** " His yell echoed through the room, but Nakiri kept a calm, complacent attitude. Jaime was shaking, sweating ask he asked, "H-how?"

"There is one thing you should never do in this dish," she began. "And that is you never drain the capers in vinegar. Another error is that you added too much Dijon mustard; this puts the taste off balance. That is why you fail."

"B-but…" I could tell he was about to say something desperate about a second chance. However, this is Totsuki. You don't get those here.

"You." The Headmistress pointed to the double doors. "Fail." At this, Jaime DuBois packed up his belongings, as walked out of Hall B. Lyra, the other girl, and I watched him walk out. Ms. Nakiri called to our attention again by saying, "If you don't want to end up like him, then make sure your dish isn't like his." With that, the three of us were back to work.

I cut potatos and carrots into little cubes. I, then, cored 2 bell peppers, red and green, then cut it into small square shapes. I picked up the diced vegetables, along with a handful of olives, dropped them into the pot and stirred for a few minutes. I then put a dash of salt and pepper before stirring again.

"H-headmistress!" Now it was the shorter girl's turn. Her voice was soft, yet shaking because of the older woman standing by her station. "I'm ready for you to judge my dish!"

"Hm?" Ms. Nakiri approached her station, but was a lot less intimidating towards this girl. "Don't be nervous, young lady. A good chef's ability to stay calm even after cooking can help you when you have many orders to complete. Now what is your dish?"

"U-uh," Her voice was still shaky, and she was looking at her shoes. "It's Cantonese Barbeque P-pork, Headmistress."

"Interesting." Ms. Nakiri took the plate in her hand, and took a bit of a good portion of the pork. "Hm!" She exclaimed the moment the chopsticks dropped the pork was placed on her God's Tongue. "What's your name, young one?"

"M-my name?" This question seemed to get this girl even more nervous. She shook her head to calm down before answering, "Aika Tenlee."

"Aika," The Headmistress began, no emotion evident on her face. "You pass." Before the girl could interject, she continued. "The honey made the pork much softer and added a small sweetness to the plate despite the soy sauce, and helps add to the contrast with the Chinese five-spice powder."

"I brought my own actually," Aika cut in, before withdrawing a little. "M-my father gave me his homemade mix to help me and my cooking taste better."

"Your father made a wise choice." The older woman nodded in understanding. "You pass. You may make your way to the group waiting area for the Spring Semester Beginning Ceremony.

I looked to Lyra, who was just about finished plating her own dish. Looking to the clock, it was almost 11 o' clock. Aika finished skipping out the door before Headmistress Nakiri announced, "You two have an hour. Make sure you-"

"Headmistress!" Lyra spoke up. "Dish ready for judgement!"

I decided to not pay attention to this judgement, and went back to focusing on my dish. It was about finished cooking, so I got a plate and a large spoon to scoop out some of my dish. I never saw the point in making plating "pretty;" it should mostly taste good than look good. Also, looks were never important in the diner. I then washed and dried off the knives I used before putting them into my knives-case again.

"Rue!" I look up and see Lyra smiling as she walked past me and towards the doors; I had not heard anything from her judgement by the Headmistress. "I better see you at the Ceremony!" She called out to me before exiting. I finished plating, and Headmistress Nakiri approached me before I could call her. It would have been redundant anyway.

"Tell me why I shouldn't fail your dish." I heard her say.

"What?"

"Tell me why I shouldn't—"

"No, I heard you." I speak up. "I meant to ask why?"

"You picked up the most plebian ingredients from the front tables. You were also the last of the four to pick up your ingredients. Plus, you're plating is lackluster. Even moreso, your dish is a very common, low-class beef stew." Each point of hers seemed to stab me in the side. "So why should I let you pass?" I took a moment to breathe and collect my thoughts.

"Just because a chef doesn't use the fanciest, most expensive ingredients doesn't make them the best." I answer. "There have been a good amount of chefs like that. At least one stood tall above them all here in Totsuki." The Headmistress flinched a little at the last statement. "If you're just going to fail my dish before you even bring it an inch off of the station, then you're not doing a necessary job of a culinary judge."

Her eyes seem to now regard me in a different way. She gave me a quick look over before picking up my dish and chopsticks. She was about to put a piece of the beef, along with some of the vegetables and covered in a bit of the stew, but she spoke up with a question I never had to answer before.

"What was the name of the diner you worked in?"

This caught me off guard. I had never been asked this question for some reason. I just cooked and cleaned here. I never really thought to try remembering the name of the place.

"I…" I begin. "I don't really know. I was there to learn how to cook, I didn't pay much attention to the outside world for a good while. That answer granted me a weird look from Ms. Nakiri before she put the food in her mouth.

In a second, her hand slammed on my station, causing me to step back. I thought I heard her curse, and watched her chopsticks reach for another piece of food. She then hesitated, and ended up putting her utensils down.

"You pass." She spoke after a while. Her bangs covered her eyes, and before I could say anything, she turned around. "Go on and go to the Ceremony."

"Um, a-are you ok—" I was cut off by her yelling.

" _JUST GO BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!_ " Her voice woke up my arms and legs, as I absentmindedly picked up my belongings and sprinted out the door.

Erina Nakiri heard the last student walk through the double doors; she didn't even ask for his name like the other students.

"Damn it, how could he not know?" She cursed. She looked again at the seemingly common diner dish. It was plated the way a poor family would plate their dinner, yet it tasted about as good, if not better, than most of the dishes professional chefs would have her test. Her mind subconsciously brought up memories of a certain spiky, red-haired chef. "It's almost uncanny."

She walked back to the front of the room by the ingredients tables. On one side was a manila folder. She pulled out and selected the forms of the last four entrants, pushing aside the rest to be thrown away. Erina found Jaime DuBois' form, and added it to the discard pile. She then produced an ink stamp that would read "ACCEPTED" when applied to a form. She used it on the forms that belonged to Aika Tenlee and Lyra Caldwell. Two similar styles, yet from two different sides of the world; that would be an interesting match.

Erina Nakiri then searched through the discard pile before coming across the student that whose name for which she didn't ask.

"Rue Karios?" She read his name to herself. "And he's a beef specialist?" She pressed the "ACCEPTED" stamp to his paper, then took a red pen to the form and drew a small star by his name. "You'll be an interesting one to watch. The Ten will have quite an interesting run with you"

 **(A/N:) Thanks everyone for reading! I'm not the best and uh... I'm technically making this story up as I go. I'll do my best to answer PMs or comments about the story. I don't have a set schedule for the next episode either, since college work is keeping me bogged down. But again, thanks so so much for your love and support for my first story!**


	4. Chapter 4: Introduced to the Masses

I made my way up the same road I climbed earlier today, after being directed that way by some kind strangers on campus. I could already see a huge mass of students in seated in front of a white stage, conversing with one another. On the left side of the stage was a large white tent; the right side had a podium. I managed to get about 15 feet from the crown when I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Rue!" Lyra's voice called out, catching me off guard. I stopped approaching the group, and looked around for the redhead. I found her waving at me from the side of the stage, which was rather far up. "Over here!" Despite the sea of students between us, I could hear her near crystal clear. _Damn, she can be quite loud._ I thought. I raised my hand to her to show I understood and jogged over to where she stood.

"Hey, Lyra." I greeted her, trying to catch my breath. I was wheezing a bit; damn you asthma. "You seem excited."

"Why shouldn't I be?" She raised an eyebrow. "We've been accepted to Totsuki! As transfers, no less!" This is true; there rarely are any succesful attempts to transfer into the illustrious culinary academy. She then guided me to another spot, behind the stage where we met the other successful transfer student: Aika Tenlee.

"Oh, h-hello…" Aika said shakily. Her brown hair cutely covered her eyes a little. "I-I'm Aika. Nice to m-meet you." She attempted a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, Aika." I decided not to push any sort of physical greeting; Aika appeared as though she would collapse from fright. "I'm Rue Karios. You can just call me Rue." She nodded, and her hand immediately shot to my left hand.

"That's a nice ring," She said suddenly, catching me somewhat off guard. "I thought I saw you kiss it before you started cooking in the exam. Why do you do that?" I took a moment to think of a proper answer for right now. We've just met, it would be somewhat inappropriate to tell her that story now.

"It's kind of a long story," I answer. "Not exactly the best time to explain."

"O-oh ok," Aika seemed to withdraw, as if she thought she did something wrong. "I'm sorry if I sounded like I w-was prying."

"No, it's fine." I waved my hand in dismissal. "I'd rather not bring the mood down after passing that transfer exam." Lyra and Aika both nodded in understanding.

"So, you're a Chinese food specialist?" Lyra asked suddenly, and Aika seemed to brighten up substantially. The shorter girl nodded somewhat enthusiastically.

"My father and uncle run a very successful Chinese cuisine restaurant in Beijing, and I learned straight from them how to cook." She said, putting her right hand on her heart, before letting it drop into her lap. "My father wanted me to attend Totsuki because he felt my skills were much greater than other students in China."

"That's interesting," Lyra said. "My father also taught me how to cook. Being Irish, I learned that there's a lot to do with alcohol other than drink it." I was now listening intently, since I didn't pay attention to her submission's judgement during the exam. "My specialty was stir fried vegetables paired with beer batter-fried fish!" I actually found her style interesting. I've heard of chefs using wine and sake for cooking, but never beer!

"I don't think I recall ever using beer in a dish," I throw in. "I wonder what that would taste like…" I begin to imagine myself dousing beef in beer for a dish; I'll have to think of something for that.

"What style are you best in, Rue?" Lyra asked, bringing me out of my stupor.

"Beef." Aika answered for me. I looked to her to explain, and she seemed to shrink. "T-that's my guess after w-watching you cook, at least."

"Well, you're correct Aika." I smiled, and my answer seemed to calm her down. "I worked at a diner near me for long time, and I always liked making beef dishes, since that's what the customers usually ordered. I got a lot of practice with beef, so I feel comfortable with meat dishes in general." We continued to exchange small talk after that, and despite Aika's shyness, she managed to contribute quite a bit to our conversation. After a while, we heard the seated student crowd become silent, and feet in high heels walked across the stage.

"Good afternoon, students." Headmisstress Erina Nakiri was now addressing the mass. The latter remained silence, either out of fear or respect for the speaker. "As you may know, I am Erina Nakiri, your Headmisstress at the Totsuki Culinary Arts Academy. This ceremony exists to mark the beginning of the Spring semester and to welcome those who have just joined the ranks." Madam Nakiri looked out into the crowd with an indifferent visage.

"While all that is well and nice, let me remind you all: this is _Totsuki_." She put great emphasis on the name of the academy. "You are all here because society accepts you to be some of the best young chefs in the world." I heard some students mumble in assent, in a somewhat bragging way. "However, their word means nothing. In these walls, your _customers_ are not judging you. The world's greatest names in the culinary arts will be mentoring you and judging your creations. Despite this, it is guaranteed that 99 percent of all of you standing here today will not be standing in this very spot two years from now for graduation."

"As the great Dojima Gin has said and will always say, 'the cooking world is like a battlefield." You cannot afford to have social popularity here; that means nothing to a Totsuki student. Let your cooking define you as an individual, as a unique chef, as a force to be reckoned with. If your dish is unable to demonstrate your ability to stay in this Academy, you will be promptly expelled." The headmistress decided to pause here, letting that statement sink in.

"In terms of positivity, we do have quite interesting news." Erina Nakiri said somewhat proudly. "This year, the Totsuki Transfer Exam has yielded us three successful transfer students, which is an academy record. I am quite pleased to say that, after personally judging their specialty dishes, they are very capable cooks, and you should all be very scared of them surpassing you in the next two years." Another pause for dramatic effect. "And so, we shall introduce them to you all. First, please welcome Aika Tenlee!"

"W-w-w-wait, what?" Aika's eyes shot open suddenly. "I have to introduce myself?"

"I mean, I'm pretty sure they do this for every transfer student." Lyra put her arm around Aika to call her down. "Don't worry, Aika. Just say your name, and a couple words, then you're done! Just walk off to that tent when you're done. You'll be finished in no time!" She then grabbed the shorter girl by the shoulders and pushed her towards the podium on the stage.

"U-um, h-h-hello," Aika spoke into the podium's microphone. "I'm A-Aika Tenlee, f-from China. I'm very g-grateful for having b-been accepted into Totsuki. I'll try my best with all of you." With that, she bowed and quickly walked to the tent on the left side of the stage. The students politely applauded. The Headmistress walked back up to the podium.

"Thank you, Ms. Tenlee." Madam Nakiri spoke, and continued the introductions. "Next transfer student, come up please!" At this, Lyra enthusiastically jumped and walked onto the stage with confidence, and took to the podium.

"Hello, all!" She said with a smile. A few male students were muttering to each other; she was quite attractive. "I'm Lyra Caldwell, from Ireland! I'm going to have a lot of fun cooking with you all. It's gonna be quite an experience, so good luck to everyone." She ended her introduction with a wave to the crowd and calm walk to join Aika in the tent. The crowd clapped more enthusiastically than Aiko.

"Thank you, Ms. Caldwell." Headmistress Erina took the podium once more. Before I even approached the podium, I could see the crowd's eyes resting on me. A few girls turned to their friends next to them. "Now for the last transfer student, please come up. Now let me warn you all; this one may as well be the best of all of you." She then stepped aside to let me speak.

I saw the crowd's attitude had changed for the most part. Before they were just watching the previous two transfer students with curious mirth. After the Headmistress' last statement, their gazes became cold and calculating. _Well, thanks for that, now everyone hates me._ I think, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Uh, hi everyone." I speak with a casual tone. "I'm Rue Karios, from here in Japan. Just like all of you, I plan on being the best chef in the world, but uh…" I think of something to add. "I think I have what it takes to compete with you all. Good luck to everyone, and I guess I'll do my best to prove my worth as a chef." Unlike the previous two students, the crowd didn't applaud after my speech. I walked to the tent where Aika and Lyra were. Looking back to the podium, I saw Madam Nakiri watching me walk away with a small smirk. _She's trying to get everyone on my case?_ I wonder. _Classes haven't even started._

"Thank you, Mr. Karios." She continued on to conclude her speech, reminding the students about the reputation the Academy has, etc. Her last line to all of us was, "Good luck to you all. Just remember, you aren't guaranteed to graduate. Maybe a talented, worthy selective few of you," she glanced over to the tent as she paused, then continued. "But not all of you. That is all. Good luck." With that, the students collectively got up and started walking in random directions.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Lyra asked no one in particular. Unnoticed to the three of us, Headmistress Nakiri had stepped into the tent.

"You should have gotten a note in regards to your housing here." She announced, causing Aika to jump. "By the way, I wasn't lying when I said you had the capability of surpassing most of the students in the crowd. I see great potential in all three of you." Her eyes traveled between the three of us until they rested on me. "You should do your best not to disappoint me." That last point seemed to be pointed especially towards me.

"Yes ma'am!" Lyra answered with confidence for all three of us. "We'll absolutely do our best." At this, Headmistress Nakiri nodded, and turned to leave. Before she exited the tent completely, she spoke once more.

"You need to understand, Rue." The mention of my name caught me off guard. "You have the greatest relative cooking ability I've seen in a long time. Don't disappoint me, or I'll personally make sure you don't have a future as a chef."

"Y-yes ma'am." I respond, unsure of how to take it. The Woman of the God's Tongue walked out, leaving us to think about her words.

"Wow, Rue," Lyra spoke after a minute of silence. "What the hell did you serve her?"

"Just a beef stew." I answered. "I didn't think it would be that good."

"W-well, it obviously was," Aika cut in this time. "And she seems to have h-high expectations for you. That's seems really scary."

"As if Totsuki wasn't stressful enough!" Lyra added. "You have the Headmistress' eyes on you! Not even on the first day of classes!" I sighed, before attempting the change the subject. I took a stapled bunch of papers from my backpack.

"Anyway, back to the subject of lodging," I began. "I'm apparently staying at the uh… Polar Star dormitory."

"That's strange," Lyra immediately responded. "So am I! Aika?"

"N-no." The shorter girl was looking at the ground, sadly. "I'm in the Sakura Blossom dormitory. Sorry."

"At least it's closer to the main school buildings." I offer, finding the aforementioned dorm on the map shown on the given papers.

"I g-guess," She responds. "I'll have to head there now to register my room and things there. So, bye for now, I guess." Aika began to walk towards the tent's exit.

"Bye, Aika!" Lyra called after her. "Hope to see you in school!" I added a wave to the farewell, which was reciprocated by the retreated brunette.

"Well Lyra," I got the redhead's attention. "It's a long walk up to Polar Star. We should start making our way there now."

"Right." She said, straightening her clothes and quickly checking her belongings. Once finished, she pointed to a random direction and yelled, "ONWARDS, MY GOOD MAN, TO POLAR STAR!" She then began walking the way she pointed outside the tent.

"Uh… Lyra?" I jogged out after her to stop her.

"What's up, Rue? We gotta get there now!"

"The dorm's the other way." I held up the bunch of papers, and pointed to the map. "You're headed to the main gates."

"Oh." Lyra and I shared a laugh. "Well, I'm glad I have you along for the ride, Rue."

"More like lucky…" I muttered under my breath as I began walking the correct direction. I heard Lyra's footsteps speed up to catch up to me. She walked ahead of me before turning around and holding her hand out to halt me.

"What was that, Rue?" Her eyes glinted with malice and mischief.

"N-nothing." I lied. "Nothing at all, Lyra."

"Hmmm," Lyra's hummed in faux contemplation, a smirk on her face. She then ended up cheerily responding, "Okay!"

"Onwards again?" I ask her.

"ONWARDS MY GOOD MAN TO—"

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupt her, then mock her previous exclamation. "Onwards to Polar Star." Lyra pouted.

"You're no fun, Rue." We glared at each other, but in seconds we broke into laughter.

"I'm glad I met you, Rue." She said after catching her breath.

"Same here." I reciprocated. "Today would've been boring without you."

With that, we began our trek up the road to find the Polar Star dorms. Our Totsuki days were soon to begin, but it's always good to have someone there to keep everything down to earth. I don't know what's coming up, and I don't know what Headmistress Nakiri may have set up for me, but I feel just about ready for anything.

 **(A/N): Hey everyone! Have another update! I managed to get another chapter done while my class was cancelled. Thanks again for reading. Hope you enjoy the rest of what's to come. Eventually.**

 **Review Response Time:**

 **TheGuysThatDoesThingsYouKnow: Spoilers, bro. Gotta wait for that chapter in the future.**

 **Demon Damian: lol, thanks for the caps lock love. Also, spoilers. Plus that little tease on the ring was for you.**

 **Thanks to all again for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: Polar Teamwork

Lyra and I were just about exhausted walking the wooded path up to the Polar Star dormitory. Who in their right mind builds a dormitory house the farthest possible distance from the nearest school building? The two have us have been walking for what seems like an eternity.

"H-how much f-farther?" My asthma has reduced me to wheezing breaths as my steps begin to drag as time progresses. Lyra was just starting to break a sweat as she looked at the map. She had recently removed her uniform jacket, and tied it around her waist, acting like a second skirt.

"Maybe about," Lyra took a moment to calculate. "Five more minutes if we jog, I guess."

"Y-you guess?" I was still wheezing. "Can we take a quick break at least?"

"Sure, Rue." Lyra promptly stopped. We decided to walk to the side of the path and sit down in the shade of the trees. "You look like you need one."

I nodded my thanks as I took my time to get to a slower breathing rhythm. Lyra seemed to be genuinely concerned with my well-being. She then used one of the sleeves of her tied uniform jacket to wipe the sweat off her brow. Suddenly, she pulled a rubber band from her backpack and began the process of tying her hair into the same ponytail she wore during the Transfer Exam.

Averting my eyes from the process, I looked around me. The trees around us were filled with pink flowers and foliage whose colors varied throughout the green spectrum. We've been walking for about an hour already, and the late afternoon sun was still beating down hard on us.

"You good to go, Rue?" Lyra asked, bringing my gaze back t earth. She looked quite beautiful actually, her red hair and green eyes seemed to pop out a little compared to the similarly colored environment.

"Y-yeah," I say, shaking my head a bit to regain focus. I get up, dust off my pants, and offer my hand to help her up. "Let's get going." Lyra smiled as she took my hand and used it to get up.

After walking the previously calculated five minutes up the path, we managed to finally arrive at the gates of the famed Polar Star Dormitory. I didn't care much for the lore, but decided to humor my redheaded companion's rantings about how excited she was to be living there. The archaic building stood about three stories tall. According to the papers we were given, there were also facilities for gardening, livestock, and multiple other cooking proficiencies. I could barely hear Lyra's ramblings about the place over how sore my legs were. We walked through the gates and she basically sprinted to the doors of the dormitory.

"Wait up, Lyra!" I called after her. "Jeez, we can take our time, y'know!"

"I know," She turned back to me and rolled her eyes. "I just want to get the test over with." Okay, that stumped me.

"Test?" I repeated. "What do you mean?"

"You were the one who the read the paper, I thought you knew!"

"About what test, though?"

"The _famous_ Polar Star admission acceptance test!"

"And that pertains what exactly?"

"Cooking, duh." She then opened the door to the dorm and we crossed the threshold into what was to be our second pre-curriculum test at Totsuki.

The lobby of the dorm was dark, giving an intimidating vibe to the place. I could make out a pair of wooden stairs that went up to a second floor. A dark hallway extended in front of us, between the two stairways.

"Hello?" I called out into the hallway. "Anyone here?" I was immediately answered with a shuffling of footsteps.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," An old lady appeared to step out of the darkness of the hallway and approached us. She had grey hair kept up by a red band. She was also wearing a brown apron, and was walking with a metal cane. "I'm coming." I heard Lyra gasp.

"Are you Fumio Daimido?" Lyra asked politely.

"That I am, young lady." The older lady seemed to "My reputation precedes me, I assume. Welcome to the—," Her introduction was interrupted by a coughing fit. "Welcome to the Polar Star dorms."

"Are you ok?" I ask.

"Time hasn't been kind to me," Fumio answered. "As you can see, my health has been keeping me from maintaining this place from time to time."

"And that's why you have me!" Another woman, this young much younger, appeared from the shadows next to Fumio. She had long, dark brown hair and wore a plain yellow, button-down blouse along with a brown skirt that went to her knees. "Hi there! I'm Fumio's niece, and I've been helping her take care of this place as of late. You can call me Mia!"

Mia's voice was very cheery, and her even brighter blue eyes sparkled with even more cheer; it reminded me a lot of Ayanna. She had her hands behind her back, giving the two of us a prominent display of her generous… assets.

"Nice to meet you, Mia. I'm Lyra." Lyra said before I could say anything. She then jabbed an elbow at me and added, "Stop staring, Rue."

"I wasn't." I rubbed the spot where she hit me. "But yeah, I'm Rue. We'll be staying here while we attend Totsuki."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Fumio cut in harshly. "You have to—"

"We have the acceptance test to do, right?" Lyra interrupted. Fumio glared at her, causing the redhead to wilt.

"Yes, now as I was saying," Fumio continued. "You have to prove yourselves if you want to stay here. We will only accept the best cooks to the Polar Star."

"But it's just a dormitory." I interject, which was answered with gasps from Lyra and Mia.

"It's not just a dormitory, young man." Fumio corrected me with a cold tone of voice. "This same dormitory was the home of many Totsuki Elite Ten members, many famous international chefs stayed. This is where the gods and goddesses of the culinary universe cultivated their abilities and perfected their most famous dishes." She then stepped forward and jabbed her cane at me.

"The Polar Star is not just a place to relax after classes. This dorm is where you learn to cook among peers so you can step over all those who look down on you. I can guarantee you: if you manage to stay in this dorm and stay successful in Totsuki, you will be one of those who walked out of here untouchable."

"Whoa…" Lyra took the lecture in with gusto. "So, when do we start the test?" Fumio turned to her and answered promptly.

"Immediately. What are you ingredients?"

"What?" Lyra and I both asked. "Ingredients?"

"Not this again," Fumio mumbled just above a whisper. "Mia, please explain it to them. I'll be waiting in the kitchen for whenever they're ready." Mia sighed as her aunt disappeared into the darkness.

"First of all," Mia leaned to one side and flicked a switch, turning on the lights in the lobby. "Let's get some light in this place. Darkness breeds mold and I hate cleaning mold."

"Second of all, the Polar Star acceptance test is the reason why we don't get many students here. It gets rather lonely sometimes." Mia frowned, but perked up nearly immediately. "But this year, we were told we had a about six students staying with us, and you're the first two here! The other four will be arriving by some time tomorrow."

"Oh, that's good," Lyra said, smiling now. "I was wondering if we were the only tenants. At least there's more friends to be made here."

"I love it when students make friends here," Mia added. "It's always nice to hear you all laughing and having a good time." She sighed happily before continuing.

"Back on topic, the transfer exam, _which is mentioned in the papers given to you_ , says to bring your own ingredients to make a sort of entry slip for registration here."

"So instead of a legitimate entrance form like the normal dorms," I said. "We have to cook something good to be able to stay here." Mia nodded. "That sounds like very… Totsuki."

"Did you just use the school's name as an adjective?" Lyra questioned, looking at me incredulously.

"Yup."

"Anyway," Mia interrupted. "We have a limited amount of supplied in our kitchen at the beginning of the year, so unless you're very resourceful, I honestly doubt you'll pass."

"You doubt my powers, Mia." Lyra said.

"Yes I do, Lyra." The caretaker answered.

"Can we, like, get on with it then?"

"O-oh!" My request caught Lyra off guard. "But like I said, we're scarce on most ingredients at the moment."

"We're supposed to be good chefs." I responded. "We should be able to make do with whatever is given to us, right?"

"He's right!" Lyra agreed confidently. "I'm sure I can pass, not matter what ingredients there aren't!"

"Good one."

"Thanks, Rue."

"Are you sure?" Mia asked, which was answered with the two of us nodding. "Okay then, follow me to the kitchen!" We followed her down the formerly dark hallway, now being lit be lamps periodically placed on sides of the walls. After passing multiple storage closets, we were brought into a room that was twice larger than the lobby, and very well lit. I mean, it's a kitchen, it had to be.

"Auntie, they're here." Mia called to her aunt, who was sitting at a large wooden table. "They're going to take the challenge without any home-brought ingredients."

"Are you sure?" The older woman asked. We nodded again. "Okay, if you're so sure, then let me allow a mercy rule. If Mia checked out inventory like I told her to yesterday, then she has told you our situation on ingredients. You two will be the one exception because I got a call earlier saying two very capable young chefs would be staying here."

 _Maybe the Headmistress?_ I wondered, looking at Lyra. She shrugged as Fumio continued.

"You two are to work together to give me an extravagant dish. You have all the time remaining today to prepare it and cook it if you need it. Just make sure it tastes good before giving it to me. Ready, begin!" Immediately, Lyra and I ran to the fridge which was a huge metal locker with two doors; I assumed the left door was the freezer.

"Looking for beef?" She asked as she opened the fridge door.

"Yup." I answer, searching the fridge's contents "Looking for beer?" She nodded before locating two glass bottles of the elixir and returning to a metal cooking station. I combed the fridge until concluding nothing meat-related was there.

"Meat doesn't stay in the fridge, doofus!" Lyra called out.

"I know!" I replied. The pressure was getting me for some reason. I took this somewhat private moment in this huge, chilly locker to take a deep breath and kiss my ring. "Think of anything?" I call out to her.

"I'm gathering some spices if we need them. Find any beef yet!"

"There should be some leftover in the freezer, Rue." Mia spoke up. True to her word, there was a decent sized sirloin cut. I immediately brought it to the station next to Lyra, who had already prepared a bowl of hot water for me.

"Read my mind." I said, placing the meat in the water.

"I know how this stuff works," Lyra responded. "I'm an experienced cook too, Rue." Looking at the spices and other ingredients we had, I decided to take a risk.

"I think I have an idea, Lyra, and it'll use both of our specialties."

"Good, so what do we need?"

"Beer and beef."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Tell me what _other_ things we need for it."

"Have you heard of a dish called, Beef in Beer?"

"I've seen it cooked." Lyra affirmed my faith in this duo's dish. "I think we can do it, even without my dad's brew."

"Your dad's brew?" I asked.

"Yup." She answered simply before asking, "Now seriously, what do we need?"

"Right," I looked over the ingredients again, and pointed out the ones we needed: red-wine vinegar, brown sugar, beef stock, olive oil, onions, garlic, flour, and a stick of butter. Of course, salt and pepper were present.

"Slice three onions, and chop up 4 garlics."

"Cloves." She corrected as she got a knife out. "And got it"

"Whatever, Lyra." She laughed at that. I pulled out a metal spoon, then retrieved the now fully thawed sirloin cut.

I looked over to the two caretakers of the dormitory. I pulled out a pan from the kitchen cabinet and put it on the stove to heat it up. I gathered about a scoop and a half of the butter and a spoon of olive oil and poured them into the pan. While that was heating up, I took the sirloin cut and expertly sliced it into finger-like pieces and then set them into the pan to brown them. I flipped them periodically to make sure the browned evenly.

"Onions and garlic are done." Lyra passed me a small plate of the aforementioned ingredients. "Let me do the roux."

I removed the now cooked beef and placed it on a small plate. I stepped aside to allow her to add her sliced onions to the pan. About fifteen minutes into frying the onions, she added the garlic cloves to the mix. She removed the latter after about a minute. The leftover cooked-off fat and butter in the pan from cooking the beef would definitely do well for the roux's flavor. I took this time to turn on the oven to 160 degrees (Celsius).

I passed her the flour and brown sugar, which she dumped into the pan. After a minute, Lyra then brought out a whisk from a drawer and began to whisk the contents before letting it rest. After a while, the mixture came to a boil. I watched as she then added about half of the contents of one beer bottle and about a spoonful of the red-wine vinegar.

After about ten minutes, the mixture thickened, and Lyra passed the plate of the cooked onions to me. In a casserole dish, I layered the beef strips and onions, seasoning each layer salt and pepper. Out of nowhere, Lyra placed some green herbs.

"Garnish. You forgot about that." Her voice was even; despite her usually cheerful personality, she was exceptionally seriously about cooking. "That helps immensely with the taste."

"Right." I said quietly. "Thanks. I usually don't add garnish to my dishes." I received a hum in response.

"Is the roux ready?" I asked. As an answer, she approached me with the pan of roux. She promptly poured the mixture over the beef and onions.

I covered the casserole dish with foil, and with gloves, placed the dish into the preheated oven.

"You do realize that we have, like, more than 2 hours to cook this, right?" I asked.

"Well, she said we have the remainder of the day." Lyra answered as she pulled out her phone to start a timer. "You have anything to do?"

"Well, you can unpack, actually." Mia spoke up. "If your dish really does take that long, and you've indeed made a timer for it, then I guess y—"

"No!" Fumio interrupted immediately. "They'll not get a room until they serve a dish that proves their worth as a Polar Star student!" Mia recoiled at her aunt's raised voice, then shrugged.

"Well, I tried." She concluded with a small smile.

"Ok then, just wake me up then." I said, taking my phone and earbuds from my pocket. I also made the choice to set the alarm for two hours from now.

"You're gonna nap now?" Lyra asked me.

"Nope," I answered her. "I'm gonna close my eyes and listen to music for a while.

"So, a nap."

"No."

"If you nap now, I'm going to mess with your face."

"You better not, Caldwell."

"Or what, Karios?" She countered. Good point, I had nothing on her. I sighed, then put my phone and earbuds away.

"Fine. What do you have to pass the time?"

"Red or blue?" She asked.

"What?"

"Red or blue?" She repeated. "Pick one.

"Uh, blue." I guess I preferred that color.

"Your turn." She said.

"What?"

"What, you've never heard of an icebreaker before?" She asked.

"We already consider each other friends, though." I reply. "Is there any need for one?"

"Yes, seeing as the only thing we know is the bare basics." She pointed out, correctly. "If we're living in the same building for the next few years, the least we could do is get to know each other better."

"Fine." I decide to humor her. "Then… Siblings or only child?"

"Only child!" Lyra chose. "Same to you."

"What? That's not fair!"

"I can't think of one." She explained. "So you answer it. And give names."

"Fine. I have a younger sister named Ayanna."

"Aw, cute."

"Biggest fear?"

"That escalated quickly." She commented with a giggle. That was cute. "Uh, I'd have to say… heights."

"Oh, same. And spiders."

"Spiders? Pussy." She said, sticking her tongue out.

"Screw you." I retort with a joking middle finger at her.

"Well, I'm sure you want to." She immediately countered. I was caught off guard by that, but decided to roll with it. I took a breath before responding calmly.

"If you think you're up for it." I did my best to keep a straight face.

"W-what?" She asked, a bit flustered. Looking at her now, she had a bright blush across her face. I held her gaze for a few awkward moments before we both ended up cracking up

"I believe I win that one." I say calmly, as Lyra is wiping a tear from her eye.

"Ah, that's no fair." She complained. "No one ever responds when I say that."

"Well, then I'm glad to know my wit isn't rusty."

"Oh, trust me Rue, I'll make your banter fall to its knees one day." She promised, but I was not fazed by her faux-threat.

"I can think over another thing to bring to its knees." I raise an eyebrow to add to that statement. This yielded another blush from Lyra, but also a smack on the shoulder from the redhead.

"Okay, okay," She conceded. "You win. Buy me dinner first next time, ok?" I chuckled at this.

"Sure, Lyra."

We continued the little question-exchange icebreaking for a while, and it actually did well to kill the time. Within what seemed like minutes, our phones' alarms sounded; it was time to remove the dish from the oven.

Lyra stood up to retrieve it from the oven, and I gathered chopsticks and a placemat and put them on the table in front of Fumio and Mia, who had been waiting patiently. At least the younger woman was. The former had fallen asleep waiting for the meal to cook.

"H-huh?" Fumio was shaken awake by her niece. "Wuzza goin' on? Are they done yet?"

"Just about, Auntie." Mia informed her. "Here it comes."

Lyra and I approached the pair of judges with our dish, appropriately called "Beef in Beer." We decided that it didn't need further additions in seasoning, and both approved it to be ready for judging.

"Dish's done!" I announced as we carefully placed the casserole dish onto the placemat.

"That…" Lyra spoke after we placed it on the table. She rubbed her hands as if to clean them. "Sounds like the _worst_ catchphrase ever."

"Hush, you." I said. "They're judging it now." Fumio and Mia used their chopsticks to each pick up a piece of meat.

"It's soft." Mia commented. She then put the food in her mouth and a smile appeared on her face. "And tastes amazing! It's very rare to see beer and beef used together successfully! What do you think, Fumio?"

"It's very good." The older woman commented. "Only a couple students – and I mean a _couple_ – of students have been able to make such a rich, great tasting dish from the scarce amount of ingredients here."

"So, that means…" Mia began for Fumio, who sighed and put down her chopsticks, and smiled.

"Welcome, Rue and Lyra, to the Polar Star dormitory." She announced with arms open in a welcoming gesture.

"Yes!" I give Lyra a high five.

"I'll clean up down here." Mia said, smiling cheerfully. "Go ahead and relax in your dorms, and we'll call you down when dinner is ready."

"Oh, by the way you two," Fumio caught our attention again. "Make sure that saucy banter of your _stays_ as banter for right now. Okay, children?" Her right eyebrow was raised, her full expression serious.

"Yes ma'am." The two of us said in unison before looking at each other and nodding. We left the kitchen to them and headed up to the rooms. I parted ways from Lyra to explore the halls and find my room.

"They seem like they'd make a good couple, Auntie." Mia said once she felt the pair were out of earshot. "What do you think?"

"I'd rather not say that now, Mia." Her auntie chided, and looked to the dish before her and taking another bite with her chopsticks. "Not all supposed power couples were meant to be."

 **(A/N): Have another chapter! I'm basically just churning them out before I let the ideas slip away from me.**

 **Thanks again to all those who are reading and reviewing; your feedback is invaluable to me. Speaking of feedback, have some review responses!**

 **QuantumComplexity: Thanks, I appreciate it. And Soma will be here. Eventually. Somehow. When my mind thinks of something.**

 **Demon Damian: Dude, I constantly am thanking you for your love for my story. And don't worry, everything will happen in due time.**

 **Thanks again, everyone! See you next chapter, which may be uploaded any time within the next few days or weeks.**


	6. Chapter 6: Dinner Guests and Guesses

"Rue!" I turned around to see Mia running down the hall towards me. Her well-endowed female body was giving me quite a performance as her extra momentum seemed to go straight to her chest. "I forgot to give you this!"

"What?" I stopped walking so she could catch up to me. She grabbed my left hand and pressed a key into my palm.

"Your room is 209." Mia said, catching her breath. "You're lucky, corner rooms are usually the bigger ones." I thanked her and watched as she began a brisk walk back to the kitchen. I guess she already gave Lyra her key as well.

Walking back to the lobby, I went up the wooden stairs to the second floor. There was three corridors, one in the middle between the stairways that led to a single bed room.

 _Mia's Room_. A small sign was on the lone door. Exiting that area, I decided to guess which hallway held my room; I chose correctly.

 _201, 203, 205, 207_ I read the door numbers on my head and then reached the end of the hall. _Ah, 209!_ I put the key into the knob and unlocked the door to my room for the next few years.

"Well, this is," I looked around the room. Mia was right: it was quite spacious. "This is nice."

My bed was in the far left corner of the room from the door. It was twin bed, and after pressing on it with a hand and sitting down, I decided it was fine. There was a large wooden desk with two drawers. I put my knives-case on it.

There was a large dresser next to a closet in the corner next to the closet. Opening the closet, I found five more Totsuki Uniforms. _Convenient_. I thought. _I'm glad I don't have to wear the same ensemble every day_. In my backpack were some casual clothes, two more grey hoodies, and of course, bundles of underwear and socks. I placed all those in the dresser and hung my other hoodies in the closet next to the other uniforms.

"Hello?" I heard a voice call out of nowhere. It was accompanied with a metallic tinge. I looked around until I saw metal pipe-like horns halfway up the wall. They had foam covers attached to them by hinges. I cautiously approached them. "Rue? Hello? Is this thing on?"

"Lyra?" I recognized the name. I spoke into the horn. "Is that you?"

"Oh hey, Rue! Yup, it's me!" She then asked, "How's your room?"

"It's good. Spacious." I answered. "I'm in 209, you?"

"318" She said. "It's ok. They gave us extra uniforms."

"Yup," I confirmed. "Convenient."

"Good to know you two learned how to use the pipes." Mia's voice appeared out of nowhere. "Just remember to cover them before you sleep, but leave one open in case of an emergency. Dinner will be ready in an about an hour. We'll call you." Lyra and I promptly thanked her.

"Alright, Rue," Lyra said. "Gotta finish unpacking. I'll see you at dinner I guess."

"Right. See you then."

About an hour passed and I had finished packing. Mia had just called for dinner. I had spent the last fifteen minutes on my laptop. Ayanna had already sent me an e-mail.

 _Hey Ru-Ru,_ It read. _Hope you're doing okay up there at that Tootsoksky school. Uncle Bokono made dinner tonight, but it's still not good as your cooking. As usual, of course. He also says to make smart decisions. I dunno what he meant by that, but yeah, make smart decisions. Not much happened in school today, just the normal get-to-know-each-other games. I hope you do good in that school! And remember the promise you made._ I sighed and recalled Ayanna's last message before the car pulled away.

 _Don't worry._ I began my reply. _I just got to my dorm room, and made a couple of friends already. I think I'll be fine here. The Headmistress seems to be keeping an eye on me, so I doubt it'll be easy for me here. Also, yes I remember the 'promise.' You'll meet the supposed girlfriend whenever I decide to tell you I have one. Take care of Uncle Bokono. Love you._ I gave my e-mail a once over before nodding to myself and sending.

"Heyoo" Lyra yelled from beyond me door. "Rue! Ready for dinner?"

"Yeah, just gimme a couple of minutes!" I yelled back. I closed my laptop, letting it go into Sleep Mode. I quickly shed off my uniform's shirt and blue dress pants. I then went over to the dresser and closet to hastily pull out a white t-shirt, when my door just suddenly slammed open.

"C'mon Rue!" Lyra just charged into my room. Since my door opened inwards, it temporarily blocked her view of me until she started looking around. "We gotta go eat, so where are…"

Her voice trailed off as she realized the situation and a blush formed on her face for the third time today.

"Uh…" I used the retrieved t-shirt to cover my lower region, despite the fact that I still had boxers on. "Hey, Lyra." I didn't get a response. Instead, she just walked out of the room. I closed the door after her and heard her yelling as she ran away.

"OmigoshImsorrysosorrysosorryeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Her little panic attack faded as she ran away.

"Well," I said after a moment and returning to clothing myself. "That's definitely a thing that happened."

Once fully clothed, I heard the *chirp chirp* of a car lock chime from outside. Another perk of having a corner room in front side of the building is a larger window. I looked down to the front of the building, where two figures were walking up to Polar Star.

"More students?" I wonder aloud. "I thought they'd show up tomorrow."

Checking that my ring was still on my finger, I kissed it just for a little random luck. I picked out some casual sneakers in place of the uniform's dress shoes, and then walked out my door to join Lyra in the kitchen.

I could hear Mia welcoming the visitors and bringing them to the kitchen as well. _Might as well join them and introduce myself,_ I thought before going walking down the stairs and made my way to the kitchen.

"Oh h-hey, Rue" I met Lyra at the start of the first floor hallway. The moment we made eye contact, her blush returned and she started making a spot-on impression of Aika. "S-sorry about earlier."

"It's fine." I assured her. "Just knock next time."

"Lock your door next time!" She countered with a smack on my shoulder.

"You make it sound like it was my fault." I retaliated before leaning in and whispering, "And you actually stood there for a good ten seconds. What, see something you like?"

Lyra's blush became more prominent before shaking her head to regain some sort of focus. She then glared at me and stuck out her tongue.

"That sounds weird coming from a guy."

"Double standards." I quipped. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Don't need to. It's not like I like you anyway."

"Well okay, little Miss Tsundere." We stood with arms crossed for a moment, and broke out in laughter once again. "Did you see who came in?"

"No, but it looks like Mia and Fumio seem to know them." She answered, looking in the direction of the kitchen. "Let's go meet them, shall we?"

"I guess." I shrugged. "Dinner happens to be in the same room."

We walk into the kitchen and see Fumio and Mia talking with the two guests at the table. The first of the guests was a tall, somewhat skinny man in a tuxedo. He had messy light brown hair and blue green eyes. The second guest was a shorter woman whose short orange hair was up in two buns and her bangs stopped just above her eyes.

"Ah!" The man noticed us first. "Are these two the first worthy members of the current Polar Star generation?"

"Why yes they are!" Mia confirmed, then turned to us. "Be polite and introduce yourselves, will you?"

"I'm Lyra Caldwell," the redhead spoke first. "I'm from—"

"Ireland, I can tell." The man cut in, then his gaze turned to me. "And you?"

"Rue Karios." I answer. "Who are you?"

"Don't be rude!" Mia chided, obviously flustered by this man's very presence. "Don't you know who this is?"

"It's fine, I understand." The man calmed her down. "My time here was a lifetime ago for them. I am Satoshi Isshiki. I am a former Polar Star resident, and the former Seventh Seat of the Elite Ten here in the Totsuki."

His attire gave off a very professional vibe, but his blue eyes shown with friendliness. The shorter woman beside her then cleared her throat to catch out attention.

"I'm Yuki Yoshino. I'm also a former resident of the Polar Star dorms." She crossed her arms with pride. "I also maintain the livestock and wild game animal systems in the local area."

"Which one of you created this?" Isshiki butt in, gesturing to a familiar dish. It was the Beef in Beer from earlier that day.

"It was a joint effort," I said proudly. "A combination of our strengths put in a dish."

"Also, the taste is even more developed when warmed after refrigeration." Lyra added. Isshiki nodded.

"I agree," He said, as both he and Yuki took pieces of meat and began to finish the rest of the casserole dish's contents. "So what are your strengths?"

"Beer." Lyra simply stated, which received raised eyebrows. "I learned how to make many dishes, simple to sophisticated, using all kinds of alcohol, but mainly beer is the ingredient of choice."

"And my strength is in beef." I said, much to Yuki's joy. "I was taught how to cook with many kinds of meat and ingredients, but I find myself most comfortable and critically successful with beef-based dishes."

"I see." Yuki spoke up, nodding. "Well, I think we can work things out for the future, Rue."

"Quite unique specialties," Isshiki added. "And quite a unique, uncommon way of putting them together in such a wonderful ensemble! Such teamwork is just an epitome of youth! I can just feel the potential oozing from you two, and I cannot wait to see how you develop as chefs through your years in Totsuki."

"Calm down, Isshiki." Yuki put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't want to traumatize these newbies with your 'Impromptu-Only-Apron' outfit! Anyway, I'll be staying here in Polar Star, because I'm still working on the perfect hybrid breeds in livestock and game animals for the best meat. So, expect to see me around here more often."

"I'm so glad you came to visit, Isshiki." Fumio lovingly patted the man on the shoulder. "I can tell this year at Polar Star is going to be interesting already, and there's only two students here at the moment!"

"So…" Lyra stepped forward, yearning for the meal promised to us. "Dinner?"

"Of course," Mia replied, then pointed to a few dishes next to our collaboration. Among there was a generic fish stew and a salad. "Help yourself, please."

The dinner was a mix of random moments of silence for eating, and the exchange of small talk between the four elder diners. Mia and Yuki were having the usual girl-care conversations, with occasional two cents from Lyra. I was only slightly listening to Fumio ramble on and on to Isshiki about the "good old days" when she was younger.

"So Mia," I open up a conversation. "How long have you been working here and helping Fumio?"

"Just for the last few years." She replied. "Time hasn't been kind to her, so I decided to come up here and lend a hand to dear old Auntie."

"I may be old, Mia," The aforementioned elder woman spoke up as she picked up a metal ladle from the fish stew. "But the strength I use to whup someone never fades!"

"Yes, yes Fumio." Isshiki chuckled. "Your disciplinary techniques shall be passed down as legends." The well-dressed man turned to me and Lyra. "I see great potential in you both, just based on this dish. What I want to know is how you learned to cook."

"My father ran an award-winning beer brewery-slash-restaurant in Dublin." Lyra informed us. "He said he wanted someone to continue the use of his brew onto an international stage, so he taught me how to cook just about anything, and then taught me how to cook with beer. I'm basically his heiress to the Caldwell Brewery Dynasty."

"That's impressive." Yuki commented. "But, a beer 'dynasty?' Really?"

"When in Ireland, right?" Lyra joked. Her laugh was cute. Everything about her was cute. _Damn it Rue, don't do this now._ I mentally scolded myself _. Focus on school. Protect her from Ayanna._ "How about you, Rue?"

"Me?" I asked. Wow. Good question.

"Yeah, you." Lyra confirmed. "How did you learn?"

"Well," I began to prepare the short version of it. "I was originally the busboy for the diner. I don't recall the name, so don't ask me. I just remember it was a bit of a mouthful for an 11 year old to remember by heart, so I just call it 'the diner.' One day, a supposed super-important food critic entered the diner while I was the only one there because I was prepping all the equipment for the day, and the actual chef was running late."

"What did this guy look like?" Mia asked. The whole group seemed quite invested in my story.

"I dunno, he was just another guy in a suit. I served a lot of people who looked like him during the lunch hour." I answered before continuing. "So he demanded that I serve him something, despite the fact that the diner was closed and I was the only person present. I copied a dish I saw nine times out of ten being served to customers, a simple beef stew. He liked it a lot, and when the chef finally arrived, the suit talked him into teaching me how to cook. And here I am."

"That sounds…" Isshiki thought of how to describe my brief story. "Somewhat familiar. Are you sure you don't know the name of the diner?"

"Couldn't remember it even if I tried." I answered. "Just that it was based on a smaller store that used to exist in the Surmire district when I was a baby."

"Hmmm…" Yuki, Isshiki, and Fumio all had eyebrows raised. Isshiki prepared a second question. "Did this head chef have red hair? Headband?"

"Not that I remember." I reply, much to the chagrin of most of my audience. "He was just another grey-haired veteran chef in a generic chef outfit along with the generic hat." The question reminded me of something.

"Headmistress Nakiri said she something about me being similar." I interrogated. "Is… there something I should know?"

"You'll probably know eventually." Fumio answered this time. "You happen to be—"

"Quite talented." Isshiki cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "Your style resembles someone we knew."

"Knew?" Lyra asked, eyes flickering between me and Isshiki. "What happened to them?" They just shrugged selectively.

"Maybe you'll have the fortune of meeting them in person one day." Yuki said, smirking. "And that, my friend, may be an interesting day for both of you."

"Hmm…" I let the thought of that consume me and distract me for the remainder of dinnertime.

Eventually, Isshiki departed and Yuki and Mia left for their rooms here in Polar Star. Fumio said she would take care of washing the dishes, despite me and Lyra attempting to assist her. In the end, she let us just place rinsed off dishes in a dishwasher before retreating to out rooms.

"Night, Rue." Lyra called to me before we split up. I waved to her and walked to my room.

I covered all but one of horns in the wall, as instructed earlier by Mia. Lying down on my bed, the last statement by Yuki ran through my mind. _That… maybe an interesting day for me and the mystery person._ I repeated the statement in my head over and over.

"Why?" I asked the air. "Because we have similar styles? Is that all?"

"No." Yuki's voice responded. "Because your potentials match. Good night, Rue."

Yet another statement that will haunt me for some time. However, I can't dwell on this; our first day of classes at Totsuki is tomorrow. I need to get some rest and mentally prepare myself for it. As I close my eyes, my mind is plagued by annoying, recurring thoughts of who this mystery person is. Then of Lyra. Then back to the mystery person, and then Lyra. _This… is going to be an interesting year, isn't it?_ I wonder, then close my eyes. Tomorrow would bring more questions.

 **(A/N): Thanks again soooo much for the love, faves, follows, etc. from everyone reading! I'm really glad my story managed to catch some people's eyes, despite the mistakes. Also, if I keep this idea-flowing pace going, I might reach 10 chapters by Halloween! Let me know what you think about my pace, and of course about the chapter, in the reviews. Now, for some Review Responses!**

 **Demon Damian: As always, many thanks for the continuous love for the story, and thanks so much for including me in the Community.**

 **tenza-z: Gracias! I'm happy to know that I have caught somewhat of an international audience.**

 **That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed the story thus far. PM me if you have any questions** ** _not_** **regarding spoilers.**


	7. Chapter 7: First Day Jitters

It was already halfway through out first day of classes, and I was already mentally exhausted. The first four hours, from 8 o' clock to noon, were the usual academic courses that caused my mind to melt from sheer boredom. Health class, Literature class, and my academic archnemesis, _Math_. Dear God, do I hate math.

That is, I hate doing it. I'm pretty good at it, but I just doing it. I just wanna cook. I doubt I'll need to know the derivative of an amalgamation of variable quantities to cook? My favorite regular academic course was Literature. I loved reading, and writing. The thing I hate about it is reading and writing for grades. Health class was just normal health class so far, just learning about the body and diseases and the like. I liked this class because it kind of helps us learn about certain foods.

Now was one of my favorite subjects of the day: Lunch. Now, since this was Totsuki, there were two different stations in the large cafeteria. The first station, which was the smaller of the two, was the pre-made lunch station. Here, there were some really talented veteran chefs that would make multiple, simple yet tasty tray platters. The second, much larger station was the self-made station. Depending on the day, the staff set up certain ingredients for the students to make their own dishes. There was also the usual fountain drink area.

 _That second station looks like good practice_. I contemplated approaching said area, but it was dominated by the senior students. I guessed that the younger students there were quite exceptional at cooking. I ended up going to the pre-made line; I was feeling drained after those classes anyway. I had one class remaining today: French Cooking.

"Heya, Rue!" I heard my name being called from across the cafeteria. I spotted Lyra and Aika sitting alone at a table. Many passing students, especially boys, were check them out with interest. "Sit over here!"

I collected my lunch, some kind of panini, a water bottle, and made my way over. I could feel the stares of some of the students as I passed by. A couple of senior students were more curious, while students my year were more calculation.

"H-hi, Rue." Aika greeted behind her salad. "Y-you seem to be getting a lot of a-attention."

"Sorry about that." I say to her. She doesn't seem to do well with all these people looking our way. "I blame the Headmisstress. She's the one that kinda painted a target onto us."

"Yeah." Lyra agreed, looking around. "The people around us are either checking us out, stalking us to learn our styles, or both."

"That's a bit…" I pause to think of an appropriate word. "Uh… extreme."

"Eh," The redhead shrugged before putting an arm around Aika. "I just wanna make sure no one tries anything on this one."

"T-thanks, Lyra." Aika thanked, then recoiled away from the redhead as the latter began giving the Chinese chef a light noogie. "Please stop, thank you."

"Heheh," Lyra chuckled. "Sorry 'bout that. So, what's your next class, Rue?"

"French Cooking." I answer, to which I received a gasp from the shorter companion. "Why?"

"That's m-most likely Chef Chappelle's class," Aika answered. "He's known as a really s-strict mentor. You either pass and get an A, or do even somewhat badly and g-get an E."

"Really?" I ask, biting into my lunch sandwich. Mmmm. Panini. "Even on the first day?"

"Especially." Aika confirmed.

"And with the Headmistress' eyes on you," Lyra added. "He might be a little hard on you. Maybe someone will try to sabotage you."

"That's rude." I said, distracted by my panini. I love paninis. Did I tell y'all that? Love 'em.

"Have you worked with sabotage before?" Lyra asked. "You seem a bit casual to the idea."

"I've fucked up in my own dishes and saved them in time." I offer that as an explanation. "And the chef used to give me practice scenarios."

"Like…?" Lyra asked.

"Just scenarios that could happen in the kitchen." I replied. "Spilt salt, too much sugar, too watery, and other things that might happen."

"That's rather convenient." Lyra commented, then turned to the reader and asked. "Don't y'all think?"

"W-who are you talking to?" Aika asked, following Lyra's gaze to a wall. "The wall?"

"Don't mind it." Lyra said dismissively. "By the way, Rue. Why aren't you wearing the uniform's blue suit jacket?"

"It's a bit heavy for the weather right now." I responded. "And it gets a little itchy." Lyra nodded in agreement, checked on her own uniform jacket. We continued to eat our lunches with some small talk.

Walking into my French Cooking class, only holding my knives-case, I found that these culinary classes would be very different from normal academic classes. This classroom was set up as a huge kitchen, with cooking stations acting like desks in a science lab. Each station was outfitted with sink, stovetop and oven, and the usual stock of cooking materials (pans, pots, utensils, etc.).

I heard much conversation around the room, but a majority of it was reduced to whispers and cold stares. _Well, it seems some people hate me already_ , I thought. _Thanks, Headmistress Nakiri_. Nearly all of the stations had pairs of students seated on stools, except for an empty one by the window.

I walked over to the lone station, and checked the time: about 20 minutes before class actually started. I sat up on the stool closest to the window. Sighing, I put my knives-case on the station, pulled my phone and earbuds, and pressed 'Shuffle' on the home screen, and closed my eyes. For the next fifteen minutes, my world was just music and peace.

 ***tap tap tap***

I felt someone started tapping my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see a girl waving her hand in front of my face. She had long, blonde hair and dark purple eyes. She had a slightly tanned skin and fair complexion. She had bags underneath her eyes, so she must have rushed her way to school today. In one hand, there was a can of pineapple juice. With her free hand, the new girl pointed to her ears, then me: the universal sign to remove my earbuds.

"Yes?" I queried the stranger.

"Hello," Her voice had a slight accent to it. _American?_ I guessed. She pointed to the free stool. "Is this seat taken? May I join you?"

"Of course." I answer her, nodding. Curious, I asked, "Where are you from?"

"Hawaii." She simply asked. "I know, my Japanese is not very good. I'll need some practice."

"It's fine." I waved my hand dismissively. With the same hand, I offered a handshake before introducing myself. "I'm Rue Karios."

"Derya Marani." She reciprocated, then continued with a sad pout. "I have just arrived at Totsuki today. I have no even seen where I am staying."

"Really?" I tilted my head, showing my sympathy. "Where are you staying?" My question caused her to look into her bag and pull out a familiar bunch of paper with a map on the first page.

"P-Polar Star?" She read aloud the name slowly. "Do you know where that is?"

"Mhmm." I nodded. "I happen to be staying there. Is this your last class of the day?"

"Yes, it is. Why?"

"I can show you the way." I offered. "It's a quite a long walk and easy to lose your way if you don't pay attention."

"That's very kind of you, Rue." Derya smiled and tilted her head downward slightly in a small bow. "I would appreciate that."

"Okay, everyone!" A new voice seemed to commandeer the atmosphere of the room, instantly silencing the class. The speaker was a young looking woman. She had blue hair in twin braids and golden eyes that shined with kindness and hospitality. "I am Chef Megumi Tadokoro. Please, just call me Chef Megumi, there's no need for there to be too formal with me in this class." The class broke out in mumbles, and I thought I saw the speaker sweat a little.

"Wow…" One boy said.

" _The_ Megumi Tadokoro?" Another asked.

"The former 9th seat?" That comment caused a blue eyebrow to twitch.

"As in, the _Japanese Demeter?_ " A girl mentioned our speaker's title, causing the latter to blush.

"W-well okay!" Chef Megumi clapped her hands once and the class was silent once again. She took a breath before continuing. "If I could have a volunteer?"

Multiple boys' hands shot up, and one was eventually chosen, much to the jealously of the others in the class. My station partner and I seemed to be the only one not panicking about the situation. Chef Megumi gave the volunteer a sheet of paper and asked him to write the contents on the board.

"This is the first day," She spoke. "And as such, it is routine in this class to do a test of your skills in French Cooking. You, as Totsuki students, should already know the basics of French Cooking. It is one of the most common, and most socially loved cooking style universally in gourmet restaurants."

"What kind of test?" One student asked.

"You will make the same dish that I made in your position. A Beef Bouruignon." Chef Megumi answered, pointing to the writing on the board. This news caused a ripple of excitement and confusion throughout the room. "I know not all of you are completely familiar with it, which is why I had this student write the recipe on the board. The ingredients are provided in the rear of the class, and there should be enough to go around, even for mistakes. You have until the end of class. You'll be working in your pairs. Please, begin!"

"Rue," Derya grabbed my arm, stopping me from joining the mass of students running to the ingredients. "A-are you good with beef?"

"I like to think so." I answer, which didn't seem to assure her. "Don't worry about it, Derya. I've got this."

"Okay, I trust you." Derya's eyes seemed to shine with hope. "Want do you want me to do while you get the ingredients?"

"Uh…" I think of what prep work is needed. Looking to the board, I found one step. "Preheat the oven to 232 degrees (Celsius). I'll be back with the ingredients shortly."

She nods, and I dash to the ingredients station. Several chunks of meat were left; most pairs were already getting started. I picked up a piece of the stewing beef, a carrot and onion, flour, garlic, garlic, and mushrooms.

I came back to see that Derya had done some gathering on her own. On the table was bacon, the usual spices, along with cartons of beef stock, red wine, bay leaves and various herbs, and butter. I saw a lot of people snickering at us.

 ***tap tap tap*** Someone behind me was tapping my shoulder. I turned and a smug looking boy was sneering with a cocky vibe about him.

"You really think you two can get an A with such subpar ingredients?" He asked. He pressed a finger onto our piece of stewing "Your meat isn't even tender anymore!" With that, he laughed and shook his head.

"You think _the_ Chef Megumi, soux chef of the great Chef Shinomiya, will give you a passing grade with that abomination?"

I just shrugged and turned around to see Derya chopping up the bacon into bits. I pressed the beef cut. He was right; it was somewhat hard. I took a deep breath. I raised my left hand and kissed my ring. After washing my hands, I looked around to find something that could help us soften the meat. There were cabinets of many substances on the opposite side of the room, but the knobs were kept together in some kind of lock.

"Excuse me Chef Megumi?" I rose a hand, and she made her way to our station. In the meantime, Derya actually began preparing some of the other ingredients, such as the carrots and onions.

"Yes, what is it?" Our blue-haired mentor asked me.

"Uh, can we use those ingredients in those cabinets?" I pointed to the locked cabinets.

"Well…" Chef Megumi looked at our station, gave a quick smile to Derya, and then looked to me. "I don't see why you would have too." With that, she turned and returned to the front of the room and sat at her desk. Leaving me to question what she meant and panic.

I felt my right hand subconsciously going to my left, and started rubbing the ring. _What can I do?_ My mind and heart were racing. _I don't recall anything like this in the diner. I've never had to work with spoiled meat. What can I do?_ _ **WHAT CAN I**_ **—** My station partner was waving her hand in my face again. I was shaken out of my stupor, and looked to her.

"What's wrong, Rue?" Derya asked, wiping a bit a sweat off of her forehead.

I took another deep breath, and stopped playing with my ring. "Do you know what we could do to make this meat softer?"

She pressed the chunk of beef, _hmm_ 'ed, then got out a large metal bowl and placed the beef in it. Derya then turned to me and said, "Watch this, Rue."

She took her bottle of pineapple juice and dumped about half of its contents into the bowl. She stopped pouring when the liquid level was only a little bit above the top of the beef. She then began to massage the meat.

"W-what?" This was unexpected. I was profoundly confused. "Why are you… what?"

"Pineapple is good for hard meats." She explained. "I don't know why it works, but it does."

"But the recipe doesn't have us adding pineapple juice." I pointed out." All I received was a shrug.

I looked around and saw that the pair behind us, one of whom being the one who criticized us earlier, was watching intensely. They seemed to be letting their dish cook in the pot now. I smelled a familiar cooked pork smell and looked around the meat-massaging Derya. The now cut bacon was near done.

"Ah!" Derya noticed this as well before placing the pineapple marinated beef and handing it to me. "We have some time still, Rue." I nodded, and got to work.

I sliced the meat into two large beef cubes, gave it a very light sprinkle of flour, and put in a casserole dish which went into the oven.

"Rue!" Derya called to me. "I'm done with the sauce!"

I saw multiple pairs already lined up to receive grades for their dishes. Only every other four pairs were given passes. The others dashed back to their stations to attempt to make a better batch. Looking to the remaining ingredients, and the fact that they were in slightly poorer conditions, in the rear of the room, I doubted they could salvage their dishes.

"You're quick with that, Derya." I commented, impressed.

"I'm known for that back home." She said proudly. "My specialty is in fish, but my dishes are never complete without my flavorful sauces and roux."

"Interesting." I noted. I checked the time; it had been about enough time to remove the meat from the oven. Taking a fork to it, I pressed into the meat. With barely any pressure applied, the fork sunk in easily. I plated the beef and placed it onto the table. I grabbed some of the mushrooms that had been cooked and prepared by Derya, sliced them, and just placed them around the dish. My partner looked at me with a skeptical look. "What?"

Using another fork, Derya pushed the meat and mushrooms around into a slightly more organized display of food. She then poured the sauce over the plate's contents, covering the meet completely and drizzling some over the mushrooms. As a finishing touch, she put a small sprig of herbs along with the cut bacon.

"Shall we?" She asked, grabbing the finished plate.

"I guess." I shrugged. I didn't see the point of making a whole arrangement of the dish. We approached Chef Megumi. I was unsure of how she would take it.

"Ah, you two again." Chef Megumi greeted us. "I never got your names."

"I'm Derya Marani." My partner introduced herself. Our mentor nodded and smiled, then turned to me as she took the dish from Derya.

"Rue Karios." I said, and Chef Megumi's eye's glowed.

"So you're the one everyone's talking about?" She asked.

"I guess." I answer. "I don't exactly know why, but Madam Nakiri seems to think I'm something extraordinary."

"I wouldn't think like that." Chef Megumi snapped at me, then composed herself immediately. "Please forgive me for that, but you should really believe in your abilities. Even if you weren't in complete control of the situation, you should always be proud of your contributions. Now, allow me to judge your meal."

She took a fork, and _hmm_ 'ed in delight as the fork sunk into the beef easily. She took a knife and cut into the soft meat, and seemed to melt the moment the beef slice touched her tongue.

"You had some trouble, yes?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." I replied. "It wasn't the best cut of meat. I took some time to prepare, so I couldn't get the better, more lean cuts like the earlier students."

"So how did you solve it, Rue?"

"That… that was Derya." I expected Chef Megumi to be surprised.

"I massaged the beef in pineapple juice," Derya showed the bottle from earlier. "I have used pineapples in stews before, and while it added sweetness, it also softened the meat in many dishes."

"And I, uh…" I began my two cents. "I did not know you could do that. I thought we didn't have a chance."

"Hmm, I see." Chef Megumi took my comment into account. "Just because your strength is a part of the dish, doesn't mean you'll automatically accomplish it."

"I see that now." I nodded and looked to Derya with a smile, who smiled back. "Thank you, Chef"

"You pass." Our mentor announced happily. "I look forward to our next meeting. Next!"

Derya and I walked back to our station, where we washed our utensils and began washing our personal utensils. We watched as the group behind us approached Chef Megumi, and passed us with snide looks. The _Japanese Demeter_ pressed her fork to their chunk of beef and declared their grade.

Derya and I were now walking through the gates to Polar Star. We had made good time, as it was still early afternoon. We exchanged small talk the way there, and were greeted by Mia upon entering the building. I left Derya in Mia's care; In contrast to me and Lyra, Derya actually had some ingredients in her bag for the Polar Star test. I made my way to my room to take a nap. After talking to Lyra during lunch, I learned I would be back here first since Lyra has a much longer class.

The moment I entered my room, I immediately locked my door, dropped my backpack and knives-case on the floor. After such as stressful time, I needed a break. The moment my back hit my mattress, I knocked out.

I woke up to the noise of someone knocking at my door. Looking at the windows, I saw that the sun had already set, with the moon already rising. I sat up on my bed, stretched, and walked over to my door.

"Hello?" I called out, rubbing my eye. "Who's there?"

"It's Lyra!" I matched the voice to the image, and confirmed it was. "Are you decent?"

"Yes," I chuckled, then open the door to see her in a tank top and pajama shorts. I gave her a split second check out before asking her, "What's up?

"I bring an invitation!"

"To what?"

"A party?"

"For what?"

"We're having a little get-together with the rest of the Polar Star people!"

"Where?"

"Here!"

"What?"

"You're the only one with a corner room." She explained. "Hence, you have the largest room."

"Eh…" I try to think of an excuse as to why it shouldn't be in my room. I come up with nothing.

"C'mon," Lyra, cheatingly, cutely, pouts and uses her upper arms to push her breasts closer together. "It could be fun~"

"Gah…"

"Hm…?" She swivels a bit, leaning forward, giving a more generous view. "How 'bout it, Rue?"

"F-fine!" I could feel the heat rising quickly in my face and slowly in the lower zones, but strongly willed for the latter to stay calm for a moment. "L-let me clean up and change, then I'll call you through the tube. And stop that!"

"Bleh," She sticks out her tongue and stands normally. "You're easy to tease, Rue. I'll remember that."

"You're evil, Lyra." I shake my head.

"I'll make it worth your while." The redhead's eyes glinted mischievously.

"If you're sure you can handle this." I countered, stepping a closer. The space between us was heating up quickly, but I was not going to back down. "Well, Caldwell?"

"Y-you…" She stepped back. "That's not fair."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you're cute when you do that kind of banter."

"What?"

"Exactly what I said, Rue. See ya later?"

"Y-yeah, sure."

"Cool cool." Lyra turned and walked away. "Just let me know when you're ready and I'll get everyone ready."

I nodded and closed the door. My face was still burning. _What. The Hell. Am I Doing_. I repeatedly hit my head against the door. _And what did she say? I was cute?_

"What the hell did I just get talked into, though?" I asked myself. "I'm hosting a party here? I should… probably clean up, then." _Sigh._ I hope this hangout will be as fun as Lyra says. And I need to talk to her first. My head hurts.

 **(A/N): Currently writing this a bit buzzed. I'll edit this or whatever on another date. Thanks again so much for all those who read, favorite, and/or follow. Now, Review Responses!**

 **Demon Damian: As you can see, I'm not done with the rest of the old cast yet. So don't worry. Soma will be here. Eventually. At some point. Yup.**

 **Tenza-z: No. You'll see when that chapter comes out in the future.**

 **Thanks again for the love you show this fic! I'll see y'all in the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8: Polar Party Part 1

***knock knock***

"Coming!" I called out, running to the door. I had just finished tidying up my room. I don't mind meeting the other dorm residents, but why's it have to be in my room? I had already changed into a white t-shirt, jogging pants, and socks. Opening the door, I saw another familiar face. "Oh, hello Derya!"

"Hello, Rue." The Hawaiian greeted. I sidestepped and gestured that she come in.

"Oh hey!" Another voice, this time male, yelled from the hallway. "Are you Rue?"

Looking out into the hallway, I saw a young man slightly taller than me with long black hair down to his shoulders and golden eyes. He was still wearing the uniform button down, but wore jeans instead of the He was approaching my doorway.

"Yeah," I confirmed his guess. "You're here for that get-together, I suppose?"

"Yup." He said. He offered his hand to me. "I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna."

"Rue Karios." I reciprocated, shaking his hand. His hands were rough; he must be familiar with working in a harsh environment.

"I know." He said, much to my confusion. "I was at the Spring Ceremony."

"Oh right," I scratched the back of my head. I stepped aside to let him in. "Not exactly the best way for me to start school here, huh?"

"Yeah," He agreed as I closed the door. "Do you know who else is supposed to be joining us tonight? And, what exactly we're doing?"

"Nope, and nope." I answered. "Sorry. I was just given the responsibility of having the gathering in my room."

"You seem a bit against the idea, Rue." Derya spoke up this time.

"I mean, it's not like I had anything to do." I explain. "I'm just not much one for group hangouts. Not that I'm against any more among us in the future."

"Hey, Rue!" Lyra's voice called from beyond the door. "I'm back! And I have some other Polar Star members!"

"How many of us are there?" I mumble as I opened the door.

"Heyo!" Lyra greeted, with her hands behind her back She stepped aside to show that two more students were behind her. "I brought more company!"

"Hi! I'm Kyu Narue." A young girl with pink hair in pigtails and bright red eyes bounced. Being in a soft yellow tank-top accentuated that. She was also wearing a pair of baby blue short shorts, which accentuated her waist a bits. She was a bit taller than Lyra, and quite well-endowed, maybe even rivaling Mia. "Nice to meetcha!"

"And um, hello," The other student, a boy spoke with an English accent. He was a few inches shorter than me, and had short, spiky green hair. His purple eyes shone with intelligence behind a pair of glasses. "I'm Steven Boulregard."

"I'm Rue Karios," I greeted them with a small smile. "And if you didn't know, the hyper redhead over there is Lyra Caldwell."

"Oh, we know." Steven said. I chuckled at that.

I let the remaining three in, and before I could close the door, Mia dashed down the hallway with a large tray in her hands.

"Rue, wait!" She called out, even though I was patiently waiting for her. "Fumio and I made you guys some finger food while you socialized!"

"Thanks, Mia. And tell Fumio thanks as well." I took the large tray of food from her. On it was an assortment of tempura, along with some cookies and crackers. "Would you like to join us?"

"Oh, no thank you," Mia waved dismissively. "You youngsters go ahead and have your fun."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Not enough, thankfully." With a wink to accompany that statement, she giggled and departed, leaving wondering what she was insinuating. "Have fun. Make sure Lyra doesn't go crazy?"

"Why would she– Lyra!" Upon closing the door, I saw Lyra handing out bottles of beer to the guests, who were taking them with a bit of confusion.

"What?" The redhead asked, seemingly oblivious to the crime she was committing.

"We're underage!" I argued, gesturing to the bag of beer bottles that she procured out of nowhere. As if on cue, Madam Fumio's voice rang from the wall horns.

"As long as you young'uns don't do anything stupid, I see no reason to punish you." Our landlady ruled.

"See?" Lyra pointed out. "Also, I asked her for permission anyway. Besides, Polar Star is in the middle of nowhere! Who's gonna stop us?"

"Freakin'…" I sighed in defeat. "Fine, I guess. Let's just have a cap, though. Like, two or three each."

"Hey," Lyra's finger poked my chest. She pouted as she said, "Just because I use beer to cook, doesn't mean I'm not responsible. I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so," I shrug. "I trust you, Caldwell."

"Aw, thanks sweetheart."

"Stuff it, you."

"Why don't you stuff _it_ for me, huh?"

"Because there are people present. I'm not an exhibitionist."

"W-wait," Lyra's banter faltered.

"What?" I picked up on that. "Are you actually? We can start right now, then."

"No, no," Lyra waved her hands. "You win. And you suck."

"Pass me a bottle?" I asked. She glared at me. "Please?"

"Only because I wanna see you drunk." She passed me a surprisingly cold bottle. "It's a twist-off."

I opened the bottle, curious. The liquid was golden, enticing me to take a sip. I had tasted beer before; I prefer it to liquor. Lyra's father was famous for brewing an award winning beer. Who wouldn't be curious? I looked to the rest of the group: Steven was looking intently into the bottle, as if inspecting for imperfections, Kyu was watching Steven, pestering him with questions that he ignored. The rest were watching me intently, as if waiting for me to take the first sip.

"Bottoms up, right?" I do a slight cheering gesture and took a swig from the bottle.

The moment the elixir touched my tongue, I could taste and understand why it won awards. It was _delicious_. More beers started off bitter and only tasted good after your taste buds got used to it. This beer was immediately delicious and easily made me want to drink more of it, which is exactly what it did. It tasted like the feeling of being on a beach at night; it was chilling, but at the same time there was a warming feeling, like a bonfire among friends. I pulled my lips away to see that the bottle was already empty.

"That good, huh?" Lyra asked. "I should probably ask Daddy to add more to my stock."

"The alcohol…" I commented, savoring the beverage's taste in my mouth. "There isn't much?"

"That's why my dad won awards." Lyra spoke proudly. "Beer is meant to be a social drink, for good times among friends. If you use it just to get hammered, it just doesn't taste as good. Only if you drink maybe, eight, you'll get intoxicated."

"Your father has connections with a prime supplier of hops and citrus," Steven commented. "It very rich in flavor. I wouldn't have expected that in a beer."

"Yeah, that's true." Lyra agreed. "My father has many close friends that work on local farms. Being Irish, they were completely enthusiastic on helping him brew beer with their ingredients."

"Ah, Irish." Steven said. "And you, Rue? Karios is… Greek, yes?"

"I suppose. I don't exactly know much about my uh… father's side." I answered hesitantly. I didn't talk much about this in detail. "But, I was born and raised here in Japan. I assume you're from England."

"Mhmm." He confirmed. "Born in London, worked in my brother's restaurant for years."

"I'm from Japan, too!" Kyu spoke up, nearly causing Steven to drop his bottle. "My mother taught me how to cook like her!"

"Wow, your mother must be really talented!" Lyra said.

"Mhmm," Kyu nodded proudly. "They don't call her 'Cooking Mama Narue' for nothin'!"

"What?" Lyra exclaimed, unbelieving. "You're mother is…"

Their conversation went on and on. Apparently, Kyu's mother was a famous traveling television chef and even had a show based on it. Based on the awards her mother has won, I decided not to underestimate Kyu's abilities.

"I'm gonna make my momma proud!" Kyu yelled, and her beer bottle nearly fell out of her hands. After a goofy attempt to regain a good handling on the cold bottle, which had started outer condensation, her companion decided to take action.

"I'm just going to take this from you." Steven pulled the beer bottle from the pinkette. "We don't need you getting crazier than you already are."

"Don't you trust me?" Kyu pleaded, causing me and Lyra to chuckle. "You know me!"

"That's exactly why." Steven said, setting the bottle down away from Kyu. "You don't need beer to act crazy."

"I'm from Italy." Blake said.

"Hawaii." Derya said simply, which prompted Kyu to ask her about hula girls and pineapples. Derya took each question patiently from the pinkette, even thought they were sometimes outrageous.

The next few minutes allowed everyone to become acquainted with one another. It turns out Kyu and Steven are quite close friends, as they've shared classes with each other in the primary courses at Totsuki. Blake and Derya had also been in the primary classes, but have not had the chance of meeting each other.

"So," Lyra pops up to start another conversation topic. "What's everyone's specialties? Mine is-"

"Wait!" Kyu interrupted. "We're Totsuki students! We should just show each other!"

"That's a great idea, Kyu!" Mia's voice blared through the wall horns, catching us off guard. "The kitchen is always open to you all, provided that you clean up afterwards!"

"Alright!" Kyu fist bumped the air. She stood up, a pointed to Lyra before saying, "I challenge you, Lyra!"

"You challenge me?" The red head paused from her current swig. "To what, exactly?"

"Well, we can have a mock-Shokugeki." Steven offered.

"Shokugeki?" I repeated the term. "What's that?"

"Um, what?" Blake asked, caught off guard. "Even for a transfer student, you should know what a Shokugeki is!"

"In simple terms, it's a competition between chefs." Steven added. "In Totsuki, when two chefs have a dispute or something, it is almost always solved through a Shokugeki. However, the conditions of losing must be equal to conditions of winning."

"So, this is for any dispute?" I queried. Steven nodded, and Derya continued for him.

"Also, anything can be wagered as a condition of loss or victory as long as it's agreed on." Derya explained. "It can be something that belongs to you, or even your expulsion from the academy!"

"Wow," I took in their explanation. There was some gravity behind a Shokugeki, huh?

"Even I knew that, Rue." Lyra looked disappointed. "Why would you even come here without expecting to encounter a Shokugeki at some point?"

"I guess I skimmed over the academy's manual a bit more lackadaisically than I thought."

"You have a bad memory," the redhead pointed out. "And you're lazy. How did you even become so good at cooking?"

"Watching people." I said simply. "It's easy to copy something you see done millions of times in front of you for 3 years straight. It eventually becomes muscle memory."

"You know, just for that," Blake stood up with his half empty beer bottle. "I challenge you to a mock-Shokugeki as well!"

"I'll help judge, I suppose." Derya shrugged. "Steven?"

"Sure," The Englishman smiled. "Why not? I wish to see why Headmistress called you 'capable' the other day."

"M-may I join as a judge?" Mia's voice came through the horns once more. "It's rather lonely down here in the kitchen."

"Why are you in the kitchen, anyway?" I asked.

"Doing some paperwork for Auntie."

"Ah."

"So?" Blake approached me, hand outstretched. "Mock-Shokugeki with me, Rue?"

"And Lyra," Kyu stood up, with an unexpectedly serious expression. "You and me, mock-Shokugeki!"

I looked to Lyra. She stood there smiling, shaking Kyu's hand. _Good to know she's not shy for a challenge._ I looked back to Blake, whose golden eyes were burning with a fire.

"Even though it's a mock one," Blake began. "Don't hold out! I wanna know what you're made of!"

 _He's a seasoned Totsuki student_. I thought as my arm slowly moved to meet his. _But, I know I can do this. I believe in my experience._ I recalled a certain blue-haired mentor from earlier today. _And I believe in my skills, no matter how I may use them!_

"Alright, Blake." I smiled as I shook his hand. "I'll accept your challenge!"

 **(A/N): Thanks again to all those who read, favorite, and follow this story. Your love gives me motivation to keep writing! It really does, so trust me when I say that I appreciate your feedback and interactions.**

 **As of late, i have reached the second most dreaded times in college life: midterms. So, my writing must take a break for about a week or so. Also, I'm actually a tad ill at the moment, on the verge of losing my voice due to a bad sore throat and debilitating headaches.**

 **Sorry if my quality hasn't been decent lately; I'm just try to get school work done without forgetting some good ideas for the story that I need to have written down!**

 **Now, for some Review Responses!**

 **Lady Daitoryu: OMGOMG HAIIII. Thanks for taking your time out to read my story. You don't really have to use it for Rue in your story, but if it helps, then by all mean :). And thanks for pointing out the improvement needed in descriptions, I'll work on that. Many thanks for checking my story out! Hope you update your awesome story soon! i'm mad hype!**

 **PS. I'm glad Maika also likes the story, in her own way.**

 **See y'all next update!**


	9. Chapter 9: Polar Party Part 2

"Alright!" Kyu yelled from one station in the kitchen. Lyra stood behind another station opposite the pinkette. "Boys and girls, give us a prompt!"

"Prompt?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I believe she means a theme." Steven said, correcting his glasses by sliding them back up his bridge. "Anyone have any ideas?"

"Specialties." I said immediately, and the two competing chefs looked to me for an explanation. "We're here to come together as friends and learn about one another through cooking. Make something that exemplifies our strengths.

"That sounds like something Isshiki would say," Another person entered the kitchen, Yuki. "You guys know how to keep an older lady up at night, huh?"

"Sorry, Yuki." We apologized in unison.

"Nah, it's fine." She waved dismissively. "I was just coming back from cleaning around the chicken pen. I could use a show or two."

"Could you be our moderator, Yuki, please?" Kyu pleaded, with pout and wide, cute eyes.

"Fine, fine," Yuki lasted about a second under the pinkette's attack. "Specialties."

"Uh… right." Yuki nodded. "Specialties! You have… until the end of the hour to cook. Your time starts now!"

I saw Blake sitting between Mia and Derya at the dinner table. The eldest of the three was busily skimming and writing on some important looking documents. Apparently, they were forms that confirmed the residents of the dormitory along with other adult business things.

I watched as Lyra already had two bottles of her beer by her side as she chopped up some kind of meat. Looking to Kyu, the pinkette was patiently slicing what looked like chicken breasts. She looked very confident in what she did.

"Kyu is…" Steven whispered to me. "Very unpredictable. I've known her for years, but I honestly don't know what her specialty is."

"Really?" I asked. "Is there anything here I should take notice of here?"

"Her eyes." Steven answered, and I immediately looked at Kyu's bright red eyes. They were constantly moving, glancing at each of the ingredients only once before using them. She wouldn't even measure them, only use them. Her hands flew between the chicken breasts and her ingredients.

"She's very quick." I commented. "And her eyes are just flying over her stuff. I understand when you say she is unpredictable."

"Right," Steven said, before pointing out "But watch this."

Kyu had just started grabbing multiple wet ingredients' bottles at once, pouring and switching with other wet ingredients. Once she saw that her chicken was well marinated in the mix, she turned to her stove and began cooking the breast meat in a wok.

"Well, I think Lyra's unique ingredient might just beat Kyu." I said confidently.

"Are you sure?" Steven asked. "And, just what are you two? You were in quite a…. _heated_ argument earlier."

"We're uh…" I thought of a way. "Just good friends. She was my first friend here in Totsuki."

"Mmm," Steven nodded in understanding. "But you think Lyra will win?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because Kyu always strives to surprise."

I contemplated what he meant by that. Kyu did seem to be quite an interesting cook. I guess her cooking would tell. It would be another 15 minutes until both sides were done cooking.

"Alright," Yuki notified the judges. "Time to judge the dishes!"

Lyra approached first, her dish was a delicious looking sandwich. I didn't pay much attention to her cooking unfortunately, but she still seemed rather confident in her cooking.

"I present to you," Lyra placed a sandwich in front of Blake, Derya, and Mia respectively. "The Caldwell signature Reuben Brats!"

"Signature?" Mia asked as she brought thesandwich to her mouth, and savored the first bite.

"Mhmm," Lyra put her hands on her hips. "This is one of the popular lunch menu items in my father's restaurant! I simmered the bratwursts in beer, and the sauerkraut gives the flavor a big boost."

"Mmmm!" Derya exclaimed. "The chili sauce and melting cheese puts the taste over the top! It's amazing!"

"You're right," Blake agreed. "The bratwursts' taste is originally delicious, but their beer bath made the taste explosive! It's like an explosion of favor every time I bite into the sausage!"

After a while, the three judges had finished their sandwiches. They now looked to Kyu expectantly, but seemed to really enjoy Lyra's dish.

"Here ya go!" Kyu gave them each a plate of what looked like a common chicken teriyaki. "My special chicken teriyaki!"

"Hm…" Mia said. "It doesn't appear to be very _special._ "

"It does look very plain." Blake commented. "I wonder how-"

" ** _WOW!_** " Derya exclaimed, as she began to shovel more of the chicken teriyaki into her gullet. "This is amazing! Even better than most chicken dishes in Hawaii!"

"That good, huh?" I wondered.

"I told you," Steven said, smiling. "Kyu can surprise you."

"She's right," Mia said as she began digging into her dish. "I don't know what it is, but this so much better tasting than typical teriyaki!"

"It's sweeter," Blake commented. "And it's making me want to eat more of it!"

"That's right." Kyu said proudly, smiling wide. "My specialty is being able to make very slight changes in recipes and make them better than they look."

"I feel like Madam Nakiri would have a field day with you." I muttered.

"Oh, she did actually." Kyu replied. "She stopped lecturing me when she tasted my soup."

"Oh, really?" Steven was invested with this conversation, having finally learned about his friend's specialty. "Is that why you look to your ingredients so quickly?"

"Mhmm." Kyu nodded enthusiastically. "Momma taught me that a change in amount of ingredients can change a dish's taste drastically better. I had a lot of practice with it.

I watched as the judges ate through the surprising chicken dish and started to make their final decision. They seemed to be in an intense debate. They finally calmed down to make way for the final part of the Shokugeki.

"What are your decisions, judges?" Yuki asked.

"The reuben!" Blake chose, causing Lyra to smile.

"The teriyaki!" Derya said immediately after, Kyu bounced cheerfully.

"I choose…" Mia appeared to be indecisive. "Um…"

I could hear Lyra silently pleading. Kyu was swaying back and forth in anticipation, still smiling.

"I choose the…" Mia's gaze traveled frequently between the two dishes. "The… uh…"

"Oh my god," I facepalmed. "Get on with it, please."

"I choose the chicken teriyaki!" Mia finally decided. Kyu jumped up and down, obviously elated at the decision.

"Wow, I really thought Lyra would win." I said.

"True, her dish did appear to be much more appetizing." Steven stated. "But Kyu's hidden power here was shock value in the surprise. It tasted so good, that they seemed to love eating her dish more."

"Good match, Kyu." Lyra said, being a good sport and smiling at her opponent. "I've got my eye on you in the future, though."

They exchanged another sample of each other's dishes, and both seemed to really enjoy their opponents' cooking. They went over to join the judges at the table.

"Blake and Rue are up now." Steven said. "So, I'll take Blake's spot on the judge's table."

"Are you ready, Rue?" Blake asked, as he got to his cooking station. "I wanna see what the Headmistress called, 'the best of all of you'."

"I'll try my best to meet you expectations then," I said, jokingly. "But yeah, I'm ready. Yuki, sound off please!"

"Alright." The orange haired woman stood again, "The themes is the same, specialties! You have the rest of the hour to cook. And… begin!"

I immediately dashed to the freezer for a cut of beef, and thought of a quick dish to cook while I did so. I found another well sized cut of sirloin, I thought of all of the dishes I could make.

 _I could do that if…_ I ran to the cabinets, searching for another key ingredient for my dish. _Egg noodles! Perfect!_ I ran back to my station with my meat and noodles; I had also gather some other necessary materials on the way.

I looked up to see Blake already cutting some kind of meat. On his side, I saw some pasta boiling in a pot. _Well, I should've expected a pasta dish from an Italian_. I kissed my ring and prepared myself to begin cooking.

I put some water in a pot to boil. When it was boiling, I put in the egg noodles. After about three minutes, I brought out a colander, in which I poured and drained the noodles. I then put those aside.

"Uh, Rue…" I heard Lyra say. "You two are… uh…"

"Hush, Lyra." I heard Kyu say. "I'd rather let them find out."

I chose to ignore whatever they were saying, and continued to focus on what to do next. I brought out a skillet and heated some olive oil in it. While that heated up, I quickly cut the sirloin into small cubes. I sprinkled salt and pepper of it all, and rubbed the spices into the beef. Splitting the cut beef into two parts, I cooked them one part at a time until they were brown. After that, I set the meat aside.

I added some more olive oil to the skillet and added halved mushrooms, chopped carrots and onions. Having cooked until the onions were a light brown, I then turned off the heat and added some brandy. That action got me an "ooooh, brandy," from Lyra.

"Not for you, Lyra." I heard Mia chide.

"Aww," I chuckled at the redhead's reaction.

I also added some beef stock to the mix. After turning the heat on and letting it reduce for a few minutes, I mixed some cornstarch with some stock on the side. After adding the cornstarch mixture to the skillet, I mixed the contents until the sauce thickened.

Once more, I turned off the heat. I added sour cream, Dijon mustard, and the cut beef from before. I tasted the unfinished dish, and decided to add a little bit more salt and pepper.

"Look how focused those two are." Mia commented. "Despite Kyu and Lyra's intrusions." I could feel Lyra standing close to my left side, observing how I cooked. I could only guess that Kyu was doing the same to Blake. Lyra chuckled before leaving and returning to the judge's table.

I removed the meat and sauce mixture and set it aside. After quickly cleaning the skillet, I turned the heat back on and melted some better in it. I allowed the yellow substance to cover the bottom of the skillet. I added the cooked egg noodles and tossed them around, allowing the butter to coat the pasta well. I plated the egg noodles, then topped it with the meat and Stroganoff sauce. I chopped some parsley and lightly topped it with it.

"There we go," Lyra commented, noticing that I put a garnish.

"Hush," I said as I picked up my dish and approached the judges' table. "Dish's up!"

"You're gonna keep saying that, huh?" Lyra noted about my new catchphrase.

"Until I get tired of it." I replied. "Why are you judging now?"

"Because Derya ate too much of the chicken teriyaki." The redhead explained.

"Finished!" Blake appeared next to me with his dish.

We could finally see why Lyra and Kyu were trying to get our attention earlier. Upon seeing the situation, Blake and I just broke out in laughter.

"Really?" He said.

"Yeah, seriously." I said, wiping a tear away. "I can't believe we both made Beef Stroganoff!"

"Well," Steven interjected, now sitting in Blake's place. "We still have to judge them."

"You can go first, Blake." I stepped aside for him.

"Thanks, Rue." The Italian said. "I present _my_ Beef Stroganoff!"

The three dug in. Immediately, the three judges were silenced and proceeded to eat Blake's dish.

"What is that taste?" Mia asked. It's concentrated greatly around the pasta. "It's hard to see, but the taste seems to explode!"

"That's the parmesan," Blake explained. I allowed some parmesan cheese to cook and melt into the pasta while I cooked it. It coated the noodles, bringing out a unique, milky taste."

"So your specialty is…" Lyra said. "Pasta?"

"That's right. I mean, it's one of the more popular dishes in Italy."

"So how does yours stand out?" Steven asked. "Aside from the parmesan in this one."

"I always tend to fix something around the noodles that turns them into long strips of pure flavor, instead of having just a sauce or meat contribute to the taste."

"I see." Lyra said, having another bite. "The cheese is a great complement for the beef, accentuating the flavor."

"Alright, Rue." Yuki said after the judges finished eating. "You're up!"

"Alright, my Beef Stroganoff's turn" I gave them each a plate of my cooking. Just like Blake's dish, they immediately started digging in enthusiastically. "At least breathe when you eat. Jeez."

"Sorry," Mia apologized, taking a break from eating the dish. "All this food just tastes so good!"

"This tastes so very different from Blake's Stroganoff." Steven commented. "Not in a bad way, but in a _really_ good way."

"I think it was the brandy." Lyra commented, paying special attention to the sauce, specifically making sure her portions had a generous amount of it.

"Hmm, I have to agree." Mia nodded. "It adds an interesting taste to the beef that draws me in to have more."

After that, the judges went on to finish the dishes. The three then grouped together to decide who won this round.

"Well, judges?" Yuki asked.

"It's unanimous!" Mia announced. "All three of us choose…"

I saw Blake gulp. I was a bit nervous, too. We had the same dish, but put our accents in different parts of the dish. Blake's specialty allowed him to make the pasta's flavor explode, while my specialty aided the beef's flavor immensely.

"Rue's Beef Stroganoff!" Mia said, I shot my fist up into the air. "We agreed that the brandy aided the dish's flavor better than the parmesan did."

"Yes!" I cheered. I kissed my ring again before turning to Blake. "Good match, Blake. Even though we had the same dish."

"That was…" Blake scratched his head. "Quite the situation, yeah. I'll have to work on my dish more."

"Want some help?" I offered.

"No, thank you." Blake said, waving me off. "I'm just glad this wasn't an actual Shokugeki against you. Might've lost something important."

"Very true." Steven said. "It's very rare that someone unanimously wins. It's often 2-1."

"Now what?" I asked.

"Well, we could go back to your room and chill." Lyra offered.

"Is my room going to be the only place we can have these get-togethers?" I asked.

"You have the biggest room." Steven spoke up.

"Yeah!" Kyu added. "We can all sit around and hang out there."

"Fine." I sighed in defeat. "Back to the room we go, I guess."

"What could we do there, for the rest of tonight?"

"Well, it's Friday night, conveniently." Blake said. "We could stay up pretty late."

"We can drink!" Lyra perked up at that.

"Lyra…" Mia's voice sounded like a concerned mother. "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"Yes, Mia." Lyra said.

"I'll keep her under control." I said. "Don't worry about it."

"I am worried," Mia admitted. "With all the flirting you two do, are you sure you'll keep her handled?"

"It's not flirting." Lyra explained for me, blushing slightly. "It's all just witty banter."

"It's that kind of witty banter you hear in a high school chick flick." Blake pointed out. "The same kind were the two end up in bed together anyway."

"No." I said plainly. "We won't end up in bed."

"I mean, eventually we might," Lyra said in a surprisingly dismissive tone.

"Not helping, Lyra" I noted, face palming.

"Sorry."

"That's a lie."

"Maybe."

"Can you two not start here, please?" Blake thankfully interjected. "At least wait for when we're in the room for hat talk?"

"Shut up, Blake." I said.

We made our way to back to our rooms. We also apologized to Mia for leaving the cleaning up to her and Yuki, even though they insisted that they'd be fine.

"Anyway," Lyra said once we had all entered my room once more. She turned back to us, holding up a couple more bottles of her family's beer. "Let's get back to partying!"

Taking my second bottle for the night, I looked to the group; there was a lot of potential here. We could probably make it far if worked together. I raised my bottle, catching their attention.

"To _our_ Polar Star!" I cheered. The rest of the group followed suit happily and drank. We were happy, giddy for most of the night. Little did I know, there would be a harsh trail for me looming in the near future.

 **(A/N): Eyo! Remember when the upload would wait a week? Well, I at least needed to put up the second part of the "intro to Polar Star" arc. I guess that's what it is.**

 **Also, as usual, thank you all so much for the love you guys are showing the story. I'll be out with another chapter soon.**

 **Review responses:**

 **HJSDGCE: Yup. That's where I got it from. I'm a huge RT fan.**

 **Demon Damian: Thanks for the love, as usual. And I appreciate the advice about descriptions.**

 **Lady Daitoryu: Yup, I really wanted to have Erina have that position of fearsome power from the beginning. We'll see more of her soon. And I'm glad you're loving the story.**

 **EDIT: I OPENED A POLL ON MY PROFILE ABOUT A FUTURE CHAPTER IF I EVER NEED A BREAK FROM MAKING UP THE PLOT AS I GO. PLEASE HELP ME AND VOTE FOR WHAT YOU WANT. YOU GET 2 VOTES.**


	10. Chapter 10: Yuki's Farm

The sun was in my face when I woke up; I felt the heat of it on my cheeks, and the inside my eyelids were orange. There was an unexplainable pain in my head, like my sleep was caused by a hammer that had smashed into the front of my head. I felt a weights on me, on my right side. Both of these weights seemed to be pressing into me with what felt like soft pillows.

"Mmm. Rue," A familiar voice, near my ear. I wasn't able to pinpoint it. Mornings do that to me. "Stop moving, I'm still sore."

My eyes shot open, and I immediately regretted it. The sun's light attacked my vision and turned it into nothing but a white flash.

"Ack!" I tried to bring my right arm up, but it was held down by something. Instead, I brought up my left arm and blocked my eyes from the offending sunlight. I let my vision recover. Blinking, I finally decided to see who was keeping me held down.

"G'morning." Lyra smiled. "You look like you had a good rest."

"Why. Are. You. In. My. Bed?" I accentuated each word, my morning irritation adding a bit of venom to it.

"Jeez, Rue." The redhead said. "It's not like we did anything. Or… remember anything that we may have did."

"What?" I asked. I could feel a bit of sweat running down my forehead.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure we didn't!" Lyra waved her hands to calm me down. "It's just a prank!"

"Prank?" I repeated, rubbing my temples to relieve the growing headache. I'm not exactly a huge fan of pranks.

"Okay, so calm down please," Lyra sat up now as well. "Let me explain."

"Why are you covering yourself up?" I asked, noticing that she had drawn the covers to just above her shoulders.

"Because I'm just in my shorts and bra."

"ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE WE-"

"Yes, yes, don't worry."

"Everyone else left?" Looking up, I finally noticed the room was void of the other students besides us.

"Yes," Lyra assured me, rubbing her eyes. "Now shut up and let me explain."

"Really, Rue?" Lyra saw her friend had already knocked out on his bed. "Only five beers to get you down and out?"

"He did seem a tad tired after the mock-Shokugeki." Blake pointed out. The Italian was eating a small portion of the Beef Stroganoff he presented earlier, wondering what he did wrong.

"To be fair, Kyu knocked out after two." Steven pointed to a lightly snoring pinkette in the corner on the room.

"We should pull a prank on them." Lyra said, smiling.

"Oh no," Steven said, wisely only having had one beer. "No, you are not."

"But I'm not even drunk," Lyra tried reasoning. "I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"Then what's the prank?" Steven asked. "Hot water, markers on his face?"

"While those classics are all good, I think—" Lyra began, but was cut off by Blake.

"I swear to God, if it has to do with getting in the bed with him, I'm out." The Italian's hands were up, as if being stopped by a police officer.

"It's not, I swear." The redhead replied. The other conscious guests chuckled.

"Hey, are you all still up?" Yuki's voice rang from the wall horns.

"Yes," Steven answered. "What's up, Ms. Yoshino?"

"Tch, don't call me that." The older speaker retorted. "Makes me sound like an old woman. Anyway, I need you all to help me tomorrow."

"What with?" Lyra asked.

"The animals and gardening." Yuki explained. "Just meet me in the garden behind Polar Star as early as you guys can. I know you're are having a little late party, but I'd appreciate the help."

"Sure, Yuki," Blake said, much to Yuki's joy. He yawned, stretching, and continued. "It's starting to get late anyway."

"You're right," Steven agreed. The green-haired boy looked to his pink-haired friend. "I should probably get her to her room."

"I'll help you, Steven." Derya offered. "Her room is very close to mine."

"Thank you, Derya." Steven sounded quite grateful for the assistance. "She can be quite a handful sometimes."

"Then, I guess we'll call it a night?" Blake asked, to the majority's acceptance. "Okay. Well, good night, Lyra. See you in a few hours."

Derya and Steven promptly picked up Kyu by her arms and put them around their shoulders, letting the pinkette's feet drag on the floor slightly.

Lyra bid farewell to the departing friends before checking the clock on her phone; it was well past normal curfew. Her eyes turned to Rue, who was sleeping soundly in his bed.

"Lightweight," Lyra chuckled, before properly tucking him in his sheets. Once finished, she gave a great yawn and stretched; her eyes were drooping heavily. "I guess the drink is getting to me a bit too. I don't think Rue would mind if I crashed here."

 _I guess this could be a funny prank._ Lyra thought, shifting a tad closer to the owner of the bed. _His face in the morning would be priceless_.

Turning to one side, she ended up looking at Rue, and her eyes rested once more on his left hand. This black ring on his finger sparkled in the moonlight. With that, she made the somewhat conscious choice to join Rue in the bed. Within moments of her lying on the mattress, she was immediately warmed up because of the boy's body heat. She snuggled up closer to get even warmer, going so far as to put her arm around his as she began to knock out.

"That's all you have for a prank on me?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"I was a bit tipsy," The redhead admitted. "So, I could have probably thought of a better one. Your face was still priceless, though. _That's_ what I was waiting for."

"What?" I decided here to make a play for getting revenge, my way. I turned over and propped myself up by my hands and knees over the redhead. I lowered my head down inches from her own; I could feel her catch her breath. "Are you _absolutely sure that's what you wanted_?"

"I-I-I uh…" She muttered. Looking into her ruby-red eyes, I could see she was thinking of something to say. My position over her just seemed to be overwhelming her." R-Rue, p-please…."

"Hm?" I whispered into her ear. "What do you want?"

"Is that all you're gonna do?" She asked, smirking. _Uh-oh_.

Her hands flew out suddenly, knocking out my supporting arms and causing our bodies to meet. I could feel our bodies heating up, and the fact that our chests were being pushed together wasn't exactly helping.

"A-ah, Rue?" Lyra's face was blushing hard now, and if the heat on my face was any evidence, so was I. Our faces were inches away from each other, our breath heating up the space between us.

"Y-yeah?" I asked.

"Please tell me that's your phone and you're not just happy to be in this position with me?" I looked up to my bedside table, where my phone was.

"Uh," I immediately got off of her and curled into a ball, taking most of the blanket and wrapping it around me, especially around my waist.

Lyra reciprocated by grabbing a pillow, and curling up with it.

"I am so, so sorry about that." I said. "It's a morning thing."

"That happens _every morning?"_

I sighed. This wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend my weekend.

 _Two hours later…_

"You have to admit, it was funny." Lyra elbowed me as we walked outside. I was in my jogging pants, a white t-shirt, light grey zip-up hoodie, and sneakers. Lyra wore a green tank top and brown capris. Her flip flops showed that her toenails were painted light pink.

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "And I'm sure you wanted the prank to end up like it did this morning."

"Maybe," She waggled her eyebrow and winked at me.

"We're only 14," I gave her a light push. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Wait, me?" She yelled. "You were the one on top of—"

"Uh, hey you two…" Blake popped out of nowhere, in a white t-shirt and khaki shorts. He walked up to us with a basket of vegetables and a smirk on his face. "Have a good night? How was the _prank_ , Lyra?"

"We don't talk about that." I answered for both of us. "And please, no more night pranks, Lyra."

"No promises." She shrugged. I sighed.

"Go on ahead," Blake spoke up. "Yuki is waiting for you two."

We thanked our Italian friend and went to join the other residents in taking care of the large garden behind the Polar Star dormitory. The garden complex itself went on for looked like a mile, and the most recent addition was a full-on barn, which was ruled by none other than Totsuki's game queen, Yuki Yoshino.

"Ah, the love birds," Yuki greeted us as we entered the barn, wiping her brow. She was in very light, casual clothes. "Hope you two aren't too tired from last night. You're gonna do some heavy duty cleaning."

"Whoa, whoa," I said, my hands up as if to stop her from continuing. "We aren't _love birds_."

"Yeah," Lyra added before for unhelpfully saying, "He doesn't even call."

"Lyra, please." I face-palmed.

"Well, you don't!"

"I don't even have your number."

"Oh? Then, come by later and—"

"Okay, you two, cut the flirting!" Yuki laughed at our exchange, much to my and Lyra's embarrassment. The orange-haired woman walked us over to a large cage that seemed to house about fifteen to twenty large, white and brown chickens.

"Wow!" Lyra exclaimed. "I don't think I've seen chickens that look like this before!"

"Yeah," I agreed, peering at the chicken closest to the cage wall. It looked up to me and held my gaze for a while before strutting away. "Are they yours, Yuki?"

"Mhmm!" The Totsuki alumnus nodded with pride, opening the door to the cage slowly so as not to alert her subjects "Been raising these guys since I started living here as a student! They're my pride and joy. I dubbed them: The Polar Star Prime chickens!"

"What's so special about them?" I asked, as we followed her into the pen.

"They're hybrids," Lyra answered, much to my and Yuki's surprise. "They have the genes and positive characteristics of two chicken species, and the result is a hybrid whose meat is a positive combination of the two species.

"That's correct, Lyra. I worked my ass off for these little guys" Yuki commended, lightly patting the head of one chicken. "You two are going to help me sweep and restock the chicken coop. They can be a little finicky, so don't make any sudden movements."

"Sweep?" I looked around at all the chickens strutting around, making it impossible to really use a broom in anyway without the animals messing up the pile. "Here?"

"Not the pen, the coop." Yuki pointed to a smaller wooden building, which I immediately identified as a typical chicken coop. out of nowhere, she pulled out pairs of gloves and two bags. "One of you has to sweep around the nests and stuff, while the other collects the eggs."

Lyra and I put on the gloves and took the bags, determined to do the task. We marched, ready and willing, into the chicken coup. We took a breath in through our noses and immediately made a decision.

" ** _NOPE_** **!** " I yelled, and immediately exited, appreciating the slightly fresher air in the barn. I could hear Lyra beside me, trying her best not to puke.

"Jesus, that's gross." Lyra said, putting a hand over her mouth and nose.

"Oh, right!" Yuki spoke up, walking towards us. She handed us two small cloth facemasks to cover our nose and mouth with. "I forgot to give you these. Alright, have fun!"

Lyra and I watched the orange haired tormenter exit and walk away from the pen. Looking towards the pen, I immediately called out.

"Dibs on egg picking!" My statement caught Lyra off guard, but in a second she realized what I had meant. Her face turned to one of slight surprise to despair and sadness.

 **(A/N: If you also have a pet bird, or have worked on a farm, you also know this struggle.)**

"Rue, please?" She pleaded as she put her hand on my shoulder. "Couldn't you be the gentleman and let the kind, beautiful lady do the simpler, less messy job?" She pouted, but I did not let it get to me, despite how cute she looked.

"Lyra, if you hadn't gone through with your little 'prank' last night, I would have." I answered, putting on a facemask and walking into the pen bags in hand. I smiled behind my mask as I could hear my red-haired friend mumble a stream of curses aimed at me. "Make sure you do good in sweeping, Lyra. It shouldn't be too bad."

After about half an hour, we were both done with our job. Chickens kept wandering around and getting in the way, and became territorial over certain areas. Lyra and I were nursing our arms, hands, and shins; the chickens' pecking actually hurts. We were already walking out of the pen, and threw out the facemasks and brushed off bits of wood chips and feather off of our clothing.

"I never want to touch another chicken for the rest of the month." Lyra complained as she was picking feather from her hair. I chuckled at her complaint.

"Seeing as we go to a culinary academy, I doubt that we can hold that idea up." I replied, which was responded with a light punch to my shoulder. "Was that necessary?"

"Was having me sweep up chicken mess and other… _things_ ," she shuddered after thinking of what she just went through. "Enough for revenge for last night?"

"Hmmm," I faux-contemplated. "I guess, but this doesn't mean I don't have something to get back at you."

"I'll be waiting, then."

"You say that like you'll enjoy it." I was somewhat surprised by her eagerness for a 'prank' war.

"Oh, I have some ways to make it enjoyable." She fluttered her eye lashes at me, her exuberance shown through her vibrant green eyes. She continued with a wink, "And I'm sure I'll be able to take it."

"I'll have to remember that part for tomorrow night then. "You won't be able to stand…" I stepped closer to her with a lower tone of voice. I let my sentence trail off, watching as her face seemed to be on fire with such a red blush. "…what I have in store for revenge."

"N-now there's witty banter," Lyra stammered a bit, stepping back. "Then there's straight up verbal teasing. You're just too good at both."

I shrug as if to say, _I guess_. Rolling my eyes, I turn with the bag of eggs to walk back to the dormitory building. Before I could even take three steps, I felt a hand caress my back from top to bottom, eliciting an involuntary shiver. Immediately following was Lyra whispering to me in a low, sultry tone.

" _But I know you'll like the way I can tease…_ " With that, my legs were frozen as my imagination went wild of its own accord. Shaking myself out of it, I watched as the Caldwell succu- I mean, Caldwell girl smirk and walk away with a sense of victory, swinging her hips as an additional way to tease me.

I was shaken out of my stupor once more as another Polar Star resident jogged over. Blake was a tad out of breath as he stopped before the two of us.

"Hey lovebirds!" He recoiled instantly at the simultaneous glaring and disappointed look that we gave the Italian cook. "Sorry, it's practically the dorm-wide joke now."

 _Great_. I thought, face-palming. _Now if Ayanna visits, I have to deal with that as well_.

"We have a guest cooking brunch for us back at Polar Star!" Blake announced, regaining my attention.

"Who?" Asked Lyra, which was answered by a shrug from Belladonna.

"No clue, but Fumio and Yuki said that we should come and watch them cook."

"Sounds good," Lyra said. She turned to me with a smile. "I guess we're being rewarded for our work! Let's go, Rue!."

With that, the three of us walked back to the dorm. I shifted my grip on the plastic bag, making sure that none of the eggs would hit my leg while we walked. After a few minutes, I noticed that the fields were empty.

"Everyone's already done?" I wondered aloud.

"Yeah," Blake answered. "You two _did_ wake up a bit later than planned. How _did_ your prank go, by the way, Lyra?"

"I thought we said for you to stuff it about that." Lyra answered with a surprisingly straight face. She turned to me and said, "Besides, what happened there, stays there. Ain't that right, Rue?"

"Why." I said flatly, wondering why she thought it was necessary to add the incriminating statement.

"If you two did do something, and something comes out of it, I will flay the both of you alive." Madam Fumio appeared out of practically _nowhere_ , scaring us into running into the dorm and make our way into the kitchen. We could hear her cackle and say, "Damn children need to calm themselves down."

Looking around the kitchen, I saw that everyone else was already sitting down and eating. Derya caught our attention by waving calling us over.

"Rue! Lyra! Come sit over here!" With that, our special guest stood up to look over at us.

"Ah, you two." The Headmistress of Totsuki gave us a small smile. "Join us, will you? I have something important to tell you."

 **(A/N: So uh, hey everyone! Sorry for the delay between updates! Especially with such a filler-ish kind of chapter. I had a lot of college and personal issues to take priority in as well.**

 **Also, if you're a RWBY fan looking for an OC-oriented fic, check out my other story, which is SYOC-based in Mistral!**

 **With that, I'll see you guys next time, and I'll do my best to do better with updating in the future)**


	11. Chapter 11: Round One of Many

I looked up at the bright lights that illuminated the stadium. How did I get here? I've barely been here a month and I've already been challenged to a legitimate Totsuki with grave consequences at stake! _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_ I asked inwardly.

"You got this, Rue!" I turned to the large crowd to see Lyra cheering me on enthusiastically, waving a giant blue foam finger that read: "Rue #1!" Derya, Blake, Steven, Kyu, and Mia stood beside her, all cheering my name with varying levels of enthusiasm, but great enthusiasm nonetheless.

 **Two weeks ago, in the Polar Star dormitory kitchen…**

"H-headmistress Nakiri!" Lyra jumped at the sight of the imposing, intimidating woman. Madam Nakiri gestured for us to join her at the table. Blake and the others ate while trying to listen to what they said.

"Thank you for letting me visit on such short notice, Fumio-san." Our headmistress bowed her head at the older woman, who waved dismissively and resumed cleaning. Then, Madam Nakiri turned to us and began. "Anyway, you two, I'd like to apologize for putting you on the spot earlier this week. However, I see great potential in you, and I'd like to have that potential tested right away."

"Is that why you singled me out in the welcoming ceremony, Madam Nakiri?" I asked, trying my best not to reveal my real feelings about that time.

"Yes," She answered simply. "And while it wasn't as obvious for you, the same idea goes for you as well, Miss Caldwell."

"Really?" My redheaded cru- _friend_ asked. I mentally hit myself for that slip up. _FOCUS, BOY._

"There aren't many students nowadays with the gall to use alcohol as a specialty in Totsuki." The God-Tongue continued, then turned to me. "Nor are there many who have such a broad spectrum for their specialty, like you Rue. The reason I wanted to bring you to attention is because of competition."

"What do you mean by competition?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mia deflate at the word _competition_. "What's so important that you have to bring freshman students to attention, and not the upperclassmen?"

"I have informed your upperclassmen of the situation, but the generations before have not been very strong individually. We need more firepower, and with you two and the potential I see in you, we have a much greater chance at winning."

"Winning what?" Lyra pops in. Headmistress Nakiri sighed.

"Ever since the graduation of 92nd Generation's division, there was schism in the practice of cooking, which I'm surprised you even here attending this school compared to the other."

"The _other_?" Blake spoke up this time.

"The Yukihira-Aldini Academy for Cuisine Mastery of the Masses." Our school's owner answered. "It was established rather recently, and has been on the rise with prominent competition against Totsuki for the last five years or so."

"And you want us to do what?" I asked. "Have Shokugeki against them?"

"In layman's terms, yes." She answered. I turned to Lyra, whom I had not seen so uncertain before. TO calm her down, I put my hand on her shoulder. "You two have the brightest potentials I've seen in a while. I just need one of you for this one upcoming Shokugeki."

"Is it against a student from the Yuki-Dini Academy?" I asked. Madam Nakiri opened her mouth, as if to correct the name I gave the rival academy, but ended up nodding; the full name was a bit of a mouthful.

"Yes." She said. "Your arrival will in this battle will give us the upper hand, as the other school has been relying on veterans we can predict easily, but need new students to throw them off. Which is why we have you two as candidates."

"We're the wild cards, then?" I asked.

"I like to think of it more of a new knife's edge."

 **Present day…**

The Totsuki Shokugeki area was _packed_ completely. I only recognized the faculty and students on the side behind me. My rival's side of the audience was filled with students brimming with boisterous pride. Two people stood out the most in the crowd: a tall blonde Italian man with a mezzaluna blade sheathed on his hip, and a taller, somewhat skinny man with unruly long dark red hair kept tied in a short ponytail by a white strip of cloth.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first official Shokugeki between Totsuki Academy and Yukihira-Aldini Academy!" Cheers from both side exploded. Out of habit, I brought up my left hand and kissed my black ring, which was received with a chorus of _awwwws_ from the crowd. Looking up, I saw a Jumbotron had decided to focus on me for that moment. Glancing back at Lyra, my first friend here gave me two thumbs up and a fist pump into the air. I nodded and smiled in thanks.

"Representing the Yukihira-Aldini Academy will be third-year Maika Inatsuki!" Our faceless announcer declared. A short, purple haired girl stepped onto the stage, to uproarious applause from her schoolmates. Her hair was tied up in twin-tails that went down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes glared into mine with a cold intensity. "And representing Totsuki Academy, first year Rue Karios!" A much more subdued, but respectful smattering of applause from my side of the spectrum as I got on stage.

"Your subject for this battle's dish will be: Meat! Meat _must_ be the main component of the dish!" A very generic subject, but it could go either way. "You both had three days to prepare ideas for today, and will be put to the test by these three judges!" Three men in business attire sat at a large table ahead of us. One was a famous food writer, another a well-traveled chef, and the third judge was a random old man who had been picked up from off the street walking home from work. He didn't look very comfortable sitting there, but I suppose he was being well compensated for his participation.

"Ready cooks?" The announcer asked as we both washed our hands. "Get set!" My mind raced with all the ingredients I needed for my dish. "BEGIN!"

I immediately ran to the large metal refrigerator to pull out the two prominent ingredients my dish asked for: Beer and Beef. An excited gasp from Lyra got the attention of everyone nearby. I could just hear her yelling my name with even greater enthusiasm, and a small smirk appeared on my face.

 **. . . . .**

"What is he picking out from the fridge?" Headmistress Nakiri, who stood next to the Polar Star residents, asked no one in particular. "Is that… beer?"

"He's making Beef in Beer!" Lyra exclaimed, waving the foam finger in excitement. "Wooooo!"

"That's pretty cute." Blake sidled up to Lyra with a sly smile. "Don't you think, Lyra?"

"What do you mean?" Lyra asked.

"That' s the first dish you two ever made together." Derya approached Lyra's other side, with a similar sly smile. "I think that's a nice testament to your _connection_."

"No, no, no!" Lyra refuted, trying to dismiss their assumptions with a nonchalant wave. "That was just a really successful dish that we had, and we agreed that it would make a good one for this Shokugeki!"

"And why is that?" Madam Nakiri asked.

"Because it's like you said," Lyra smiled as she answered. "No one expects the specialties we have. There haven't been any students with the ingenuity to add beer to a dish like we did."

"You seem to take pride in the fact that you did it _together_." Mia basically sang, adding in her round of teasing."

As Lyra fended off these assumptions, Erina smiled at the comradery. Her memories returned to the time she spent living with the 92nd Generation of Polar Star, the group known as Polar Star's Second Golden Generation. The family-like bond they all shared, despite how it all ended up they were still memories that helped build her into the woman she is today. Unfortunately now, her gaze trailed to the two out-standing figures on the opposite side of the arena. How had they grown so far apart? How could she have let the man she was supposed to rule the culinary world slip away lik—

"Headmistress," Steven tapped the taller lady's shoulder politely. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes." Madam Nakiri answered, still shaken as she was interrupted from her train of thought. "Just… thinking of ideas for how to move on from here. What do you think of the Shokugeki, Mr. Boulregard?"

"Miss Inatsuki is a well-trained opponent." The British student said. "She's very quick, very efficient. Even Kyu is focusing on her."

"Well, one thing that the Yukihira-Aldini Academy is proud of," Nakiri lectured. "Is speed and efficiency. In the world of feeding the masses with high culinary skills, it is of umost importance to be able to quickly prepare and serve your customers, but still be able to make the food itself taste beyond all expectation."

"Is that what the people Yukihira and Aldini were known for?" Steven looked up to Madam Nakiri with a raised eyebrow as he asked that question. The latter sighed before she answered.

"Yukihira Soma and Takumi Aldini were two of the greatest chefs of the 92nd Generation," She began. "With the former being the first ever Beta First Seat, and the latter being a rather formidable force as the Sixth Seat in the Elite Ten. They had both come to Totsuki with backgrounds in working with restaurants that served the masses on a daily basis. They were forces to be reckoned with when it came to tasks that had to do large quantities of people with limited work time."

"And their students follow that mindset then?" Steven assumed.

"Yes, and they teach it very well. Who better than two titans of the industry to pass on these skills?"

"She's very good." Kyu finally spoke up. Steven looked to his friend with concern; she was never this focused in other Shokugekis when they were younger. Suddenly, the Japanese girl smiled and said, "But I think Rue definitely has a good chance here."

"Why do you say that?" Headmistress Nakiri asked.

"Because he's cooking something he made with Lyra, so he's making it with effort and love!

"KYU, SHUT UP!" yelled the aforementioned redhead, still being bombarded with teasing remarks by Blake, Derya, and Mia. The Headmistress turned back to see how the match was going.

 **. . . . .**

My dish was just about done. I had just pulled the pot off the stove as the announcer called out: "Cooks! Start preparing to present your dishes!" I pulled out three plates from a nearby rack and started to plate them over some white rice. Not a lot though; too much rice would fill the judges up to quickly. I need them to eat as much as possible, even finish the dish. I didn't put too much of a flourish, other than a bit of bitter parsley to counteract the super sweet beer I got from Lyra.

 **. . . . .**

"He's even using your beer, Lyra! You must get some rise out of that!"

"Mia please, you're not helpin—BLAKE, I SWEAR I WILL STRANGLE YOU IF YOU DON'T WIPE OFF THAT STUPID SMIRK!"

"You never denied it, though."

"THAT'S BECAUSE I'm trying to UUUUUUuuuuggggh." Lyra hung her head in defeat. "I hate all of you."

"And I'm sure Rue loves you just as much as you do him."

"STEVEN, NOT YOU TOO!"

 **. . . . .**

Whatever my fellow Polar Star residents were talking about, they were being quite enthusiastic about it. It seemed Headmistress Nakiri didn't mind the commotion, as she looked down at me with soft, kind eyes before looking to the opposite audience with an indifferent, yet intimidating glare.

"Will the two chefs please approach with their dishes!" The announcer called us to approach the judges. "Maika Inatsuki, please present your dish!"

She placed three domed plates and sequentially, dramatically removed each cover to reveal:

"Aah, a Miso Braised Pork!" The writer exclaimed and immediately picked up his chopsticks, and the other two judges followed through, the pedestrian one a bit hesitant and only following the leader. No remarks were made after eating her dish. A few nods, notes jotted down, then a patiently expectant look at me.

"Rue Karios! Please present your dish!"

"Dish's up!" I announce with a proud smile. I could hear an annoyed groan from Lyra, and I could barely make out a sassy comment from Blake that elicited more shouting from the redhead.

"What… is this, Mr. Karios?" the traveler asked me.

"This dish is what is known as Beef in Beer!"

"Beer?" the pedestrian repeated, a sparkle in his eyes. Maika was glaring intensely at me from the side; her dish didn't have any such surprise draw to it like mine did. Looking back to Madam Nakiri, I smiled, knowing that it was her words that inspired me to make an unexpected dish that I at least made once.

"This is… savory!" The pedestrian was suddenly very talkative, eating my dish with vigor. "And you don't taste any bitterness from the beer at all! It's sweet, and I'm guessing that's what gives the beef a citrusy taste?" This sudden outburst caught the other two judges by surprise, but they nodded in agreement to this judge's ideas.

"Yes." I answered. "These are no ordinary beer; they are a special brew from a family company in Ireland well known for their dynasties in crafting beer like this. The Caldwell Brewing Company!"

"Really?" The traveler asked as he dug in. He doesn't sound very convinced.

"And the right amount of rice to help in keeping the sauce from going to waste." The food writer said.

"Do we have a verdict, judges?" The faceless announcer asked.

"Yes!" All three answered immediately.

"Alright then, Mr. Hanzo Takeshi!"

The writer pressed a button on his desk, revealing the name: Rue Karios. This led to a roaring cheer from the Totsuki side. The traveler looked at the dishes again before his name was called.

"Mr. Genji Zaenn!" Without hesitation, the man pressed the button to reveal: Maika Inatsuki. Boos from Totsuki were overwhelmed by the cheers from the Yuki-Dini side.

"And Mr. Yao Wen!" The pedestrian thought for a moment looking to both plates. He was the only one of the three to finish both dishes; he must've been quite hungry coming from work. After a while, he went to press a button to reveal: Rue Karios.

The room basically exploded with noise, I could barely hear must of the announcer's pleas for silence. I kissed my ring and held my fist to the sky before looking down to shake my other hand with my opponent, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was already walking up the steps of the Yuki-Dini side of the arena. As she passed the two taller men, I realized the man with unruly red hair staring straight back at me with a large grin on his face. His counterpart simply scowled at the loss, before turning with Maika to exit the stands. However, the redheaded man's eyes just seemed to glow in the darkness. I could barely just make out the next announcement.

"With this victory, Totsuki Academy will decide the venue, theme, and other conditions for the next Shokugeki. As it is a loss for the Yukihira-Aldini Academy, they must forfeit half their earnings to Totsuki Academy to fund the latter's next town food festival!"

 **A/N: Eyo, it's BleachCadelina with a long awaited update to this story. With a bit of a time skip no less!**

 **Sorry for the wait, the RWBY fics I'm working on, along with some personal issues, did have to take some priority as the ides for those did come much stronger than this story. HOWEVER, I will not abandon this story! Don't worry. Also, if anyone knows where Maika Inatsuki came from extra points! It's a bit of a tribute that I wanted to do, since that character never got a change to come to life. So, I'm doing it here, and it won't be the last time you see her.**

 **Anyway, hope to see you soon! Check out my two other stories, both are RWBY and OC-oriented, if you'd like.**


	12. Chapter 13: A Friendly Re-Encounter?

**Author's Note: Eyo, BleachCadelina with another chapter for this story. This was my first every story here on FF, I'm not gonna let is slow down and die. I've got the original plot back in line (in my memory) since my old laptop no longer works. Now, for some Reviewer Responses that I wanted to do early**

 **Sir Cherubius: Thanks for the kind words! I have tested myself in previous sites to realize that I do quite well when it comes to OC-centric stories (see my two RWBY based stories as examples). Also, Maika Inatsuki isn't mine, it's the OC of a FF writer by the UN of Lady Daitoryu. I'm unable to contact them right now, but the inclusion of the character is an reference to her and her protag OC from the SYOc by her that never got the chance to even really get rolling. I had submitted Rue as an OC to her SYOC, so I felt making her a character does her some justice.**

 **PantherSeraphin: Thanks for the kind words! You'll definitely get more backstory in the future.**

 **Loli-chwan xD: As you can see, this story is alive once again, so don't worry!**

 **That's all for now. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and as always, THANKS FOR READING!**

"So, where do we go from here, Headmistress?" I asked Madam Nakiri. We came back to Polar Star almost immediately after the Shokugeki, and even managed to escape the paparazzi that flocked the arena. Thankfully, the dorm was so far away from the rest of the main campus that no one bothered to try to hunt us down.

"As the announcer said," Our school's owner said. "The Yukihira-Aldini Academy will give us half of their earnings from their last region-wide festival. We also get to declare the terms for the next Shokugeki."

"What are all these Shokugeki even for?" Lyra asked concernedly.

"On TV, it's all for pride, like a friendly sports rivalry." Nakiri spoke as Mia passed cups of hot tea between us. Fumio was fast asleep in her room and Steven and Kyu had late afternoon classes to attend, but we promised to keep her in the loop. "However it's a different story on paper. Their school is stealing away a lot of potential culinary masters, cutting our funds and resources. Sponsors see those two names and they make the choice to choose between them and Totsuki, which has had a wavering reputation for quite a while."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because the Nakiri only want the best of the best at their school," Our Headmistress answered with a bitter smile. "And Yukihira-Aldini are taking the rejects and are able to shape them in little time to rival our best. Despite the feedback on your dish, Rue, it was still anyone's game to win."

"Right," I nodded. "The last judge felt like a random variable, with no apparent professional culinary background."

"That's correct."

"So, we're fighting for dominance," Lyra was attempting to put the pieces together. "And if we keep winning, our reputation will start to exceed that of the Yuki-Dini school?"

"Yukihi—Yes, that's correct." Madam Nakiri confirmed.

"What does today's match make us, then?" Blake asked.

"What do you mean, Blake?" I asked.

"I mean, it sounds like Totsuki has been going up against Yuki-Dini for a while." Blake said. "So, what's the record now?"

"What do you mean, 'sounds like'," I asked. "Haven't you been attending this school since middle school?"

"We did our best to disguise these Shokugeki as regular out-of-school challenges." Madam Nakiri admitted. "Recently, Yukihiria-Aldini had been winning the last several matches. Today's win brings us to seven-to-five in their favor, Mr. Belladonna."

"See, Rue?" Lyra turned to me with a cheery smile. "You brought a little momentum to the game!"

"That is indeed true, Ms. Caldwell." Madam Nakiri said with a smile. "And you better starting preparing for your—"

"Madam Nakiri!" Mia burst into the kitchen, a little out of breath. "We have a couple… visitors?" She finished with an uncertain tone.

"Wow, the nostalgia just hits you when you walk in!" A jovial, unfamiliar voice caused Headmistress Nakiri to rise immediately.

"What are you even doing here, _Yukihira_!" The name was pronounced with such venom Lyra, Blake and I stood up to see who exactly the target of such venom was. Mia shuffled aside to let in the taller, red-haired man from the Yuki-Dini audience. His golden eyes glowed with enthusiasm and jolly mischief. _This man is Yukihira?_ I wondered. His very presence seemed to emit pure energy. He gave a wide, toothy smile at our Headmistress, whose fists were shaking.

"Finishing the rest of the Shokugeki deal," Yukihira said with a shrug. Gesturing behind him, a familiar face entered the kitchen. With her purple hair no longer tied up, it fell down to her shoulders. Maika Inatsuki stepped into the kitchen. "This was our personal deal, remember?"

"Personal deal?" I turned to Madam Nakiri, repeating the statement to her. She sighed before turning to explain.

"The losing side also forfeits their participant's attendance to the other school."

"So," I took a moment to think. "If I lost, I would have gone over to the Yuki-Dini school?"

"T-the Y-Yuki-Di—HA!" The man named Yukihira laughed aloud at hearing the shortened name of his academy. Maika looked unamused about it. "Oh, that's a good one. Dini, hah!"

"Yes, that would have been the result if you had lost." Lyra's eyes locked onto our Headmistress with a quick glare before resting on me with a small smile of relief. "I had faith in you, Rue."

"Yeah, not many first years in Totsuki can match up to a third year from my school." Yukihira admitted. "But we're still winning on the grand scale."

"We plan to change that." I stepped forward. Maika smirked and raised an eyebrow at my response, but Yukihira simply smiled.

"I don't doubt your attempt." He said with a smile. That smile suddenly turned to a calculating glare into my very soul. "But it's gonna take a lot more than a kid with a beef specialty. It's a wide spectrum, but doesn't leave much for the imagination in my opinion."

"That's all that is." I countered. "Your opinion." I could feel Madam Nakiri's eyes on me while I spoke to him. After a short staring contest that I would not back down from, Yukihira smiled and turned to our Headmistress.

"Your newer students have spirit." He said, looking at me, Lyra, and Blake. "Much moreso than the students who tried against us before. I expect a good year, Erina." Our headmistress said nothing, choosing to softly glare at the redheaded man. "Anyway, Maika make sure to behave. Don't cause too much trouble for Fumio and Mia."

"What?" Blake, Lyra, and I asked simultaneously. _She's gonna stay here?_ I thought.

"Why else would I bring her up here with me?" Yukihira responded with a smug smirk. "She's just another transfer student now."

"I'm glad to make your acquaintance." The purple-ette greeted with a short bow. Her voice was a bit high, but she was still a third year. Despite her indifferent expression during the Shokugeki and the events that just unfolded, she wore a rather friendly smile. "I'm sure we'll get along quite well."

"Right." Lyra stepped forward in a protective manner.

"Aaaanyway," Yukihira butt back in. "I'll be heading out now. Takumi hates it when we delay the drivers. Like, seriously, we're the ones paying them, they're gonna wait regardless!"

With that he left the kitchen, and was escorted by Mia out of Polar Star. Lyra, Blake, Madam Nakiri, and I were left with Maika Inatsuki in the kitchen with an awkward atmosphere.

"You cooked very well today, Rue Karios." Maika attempted to socialize with me.

"Just call me Rue." I said, suddenly distracted by a surging thought. "Sorry, I'm just gotta go to my room for a little bit. Need some space to think."

"Alright." Maika nodded and stepped aside to let me leave.

I could feel the heat rising to my head as the thought became clearer and clearer. _I WAS BEING USED LIKE A PAWN IN CHESS_. The moment I entered my room, I locked the door and laid down on my bed above the covers. In a rage, I lashed out and punched the wall with my left hand. If someone were to inspect the wall later on, they would notice an additional dent caused by my ring in the wall.

 **. . . . .**

Lyra watched as her cru- _best friend_ left the room in a hurry. He looked like he was about to yell or something, which is why he wanted to leave, Lyra assumed. Madam Nakiri already left to confirm the move with Totsuki's officials. Mia gave the new girl a key to a free room. That left her and Blake with Maika.

"So what are your _real_ motives to have done this?" Blake broke the awkward silence."

"None." Maika said flatly.

"You're a third year!" Lyra pointed out. "There's no way you could have lost to someone so inexperienced with Shokugeki as Rue!"

"Some said the same about Mr. Yukihira when he attended Totsuki." Maika shrugged. "And you're right, I'm a third year. You could at least show me _some_ respect."

"Sorry…" Lyra mumbled, at which Blake sighed.

"So," The Italian began. "How do we know you're not a spy for Yuki-Dini?"

"Because," Inatsuki's eye twitched at the use of the abbreviated name. "We're not dumb enough to let this escalate through the students. All the sneaky work goes to the grown-ups. I was just there to learn cook."

"There was no hierarchy in your academy?" Lyra asked. "Like our Elite Ten?"

"Oh no, we have our Elite Five," the purple-ette answered. "And I was in the running to contend to challenge for a position. A victory today would have solidified my appeal to do so."

"That's… interesting." Blake admitted. Suddenly his phone _buzzed_ and he brought out his phone. "I gotta go study for a quiz I have tomorrow. See you around, I guess." Maika waved to Blake as the Italian left the room. She finally turned to Lyra; the Irish girl did not seem fully convinced. After a moment, the younger girl stepped forward and spoke up.

"A third year in the running for an elite spot doesn't just lose like that." Lyra said, almost in her senior's face. "I'm keeping an eye on you, Maika Inatsuki."

At this, Maika just smiled back.

"Oh, I have no doubt of that." Maika said. She turned to leave the room, but before she stepped out of the kitchen, she looked back, smirked, and added, "Rue looks like a really interesting guy. Wonder if he's _single_." She basically sang the last word before calmly walking out of the room. As she walked down the hall, Maika felt satisfied to hear Lyra slam the kitchen table in anger. This would be easier than she thought. Mr. Aldini would surely be happy with how she started here.


	13. Chapter 13: Hell Begins

_The Camp from Hell_.

That's what the upperclassmen called it. That's what the teachers called it. The very name of the retreat camp seemed to add an extra ton of pressure on our shoulders as first years. As if she would provide any comfort, Maika Inatsuki gave a small wave farewell when the entire first-year group from Polar Star made their way to catch the bus heading to Totsuki Resort park in front of their beloved dormitory.

"Are you ready, Blake?" I asked my fellow Polar Star resident. His black hair was still damp; he was the last to wake up and take a shower. He was lucky he didn't have to cook breakfast for the day either, as it was Derya's turn.

"I'm… a little nervous." My Italian friend admitted, scratching the back of his head. He glanced at the rest of the group as we got onto the luxury coach bus. "All of the seniors said this was one of the most purge-heavy of our first year trials. I want to pass." I sat down on the left side of the bus, opting for the window seat. He sat in the row opposite,

"We all do, Blake." Derya said, walking up to our seats and choosing to sit next to Blake. She apparently caught wind of our conversation. The Hawaiian girl added with a kind smile, "I have faith in us, though!"

"That's the spirit!" Kyu popped out over the headrest from behind Blake. "We're gonna try our hardest and beat the Camp of Hell!"

"If you really want to do that, you should save your energy for the first task." Her counterpart, Steven, chided lightly. He sounded quite grumpy; Steven wasn't a morning person.

"Morning' all!" Lyra greeted as she got on the bus and plopped herself unceremoniously into the seat next to me. Giggles from Kyu and Derya died as soon as they started thanks to the cold glare the Lyra cast them. Blake and Steven simply smirked at this. "How about you, Rue?"

"I'm just going to do what I do always."

"Wing it?" Blake asked, a victim of my experiment on last night's dinner.

"No," I dragged out my answer in emphasis. "I'm going to—"

"Seduce every other redhead girl once we get to the Resort?" Steven said it so quickly that I barely caught it.

"Excuse me?" I asked, but got nothing in response. "Anyway, I was just going to give it my best."

"Same." Lyra said, after giving an especially cold glare to the British student, whose attention was being held hostage by the pink haired girl sat next to him.

With all somewhat encouraging small talk done, I took out my phone, plugged in my headphones, and drifted off to sleep.

 **. . . . .**

"Rue!" I could just barely hear my redheaded friend's voice over the music bombarding my waking mind. I blinked the sleepy-blurriness away and noticed that our bus had come to a stop. I removed my headphones to see what Lyra had to say. "Seriously? You've been out for the _entire_ bus ride? We're here already!"

True to her word, I looked out the window to see that we were indeed in a completely different place. The tall building yards away had a sort of imposing, regal aura about it that seemed to warrant appropriate feelings of fear and panic. Steven and Kyu were having an animated discussion that I couldn't make sense of, though it sounded like some sort of word-association game that Steven had initiated. Blake and Derya were quietly waiting for the call to exit the bus, the former was checking his watch intermittently.

Eventually, the entire first-year Totsuki body was escorted into the gigantic, luxurious main auditorium of the Totsuki Hotel and Resort. There were small waterfalls under light sconces every few feet on the walls. We stood on a dark red carpet before a stage and empty podium.

"Are you ready?" Lyra enthusiastically asked, barely audible over the growing murmurs of the crowd around us. Steven and Kyu were right behind us, still going on with their little word game. From what I could hear, it was some sort of speed-based word game; it was a good way to test reflexes in passing ingredients to one another. They were very good at it.

"As I'll ever be." Was the only thing I could respond with, as I saw a tall, intimidating figure approach the podium onstage. I pointed to the stage to get her to pay attention. "Hush, listen."

"Greetings, students." The man speaking had dark grey hair, cut very short to the scalp. His eyes were sharp and quick. "Welcome to Totsuki Hotel and Resort. Here, hundreds of people come here to relax and enjoy the luxuries that the companies have to offer." As if on cue, more lights came on to reveal the beautiful, high arched ceiling above us, which sported an intricate mural of multiple components of nature. After a few minutes of students' admiration of the art, he brought the audience attention back onto himself with a single throat clearing cough. "You… are not one of those people. All three hundred of you are here to prove yourselves. The Totsuki world of culinary arts is one of competition and ultimately, war." This comment caused a wave of commotion and fear among the crowd, though Lyra, Steven, and Blake stayed silent and stoic as they awaited the rest of the speech.

"It is expected that less than fifty of you will return to your dorms at Totsuki Academy. The rest of you will be fired and therefore expelled from Totsuki Academy. If you cannot pass expectations within this test, then you cannot possibly be able to pass the ones beyond it. Abandon all pure hope of just 'winging it' through this stage. You will have multiple skilled alumni overseeing your tests and judging your capabilities as professional chefs." With that, he gestured to the stage behind him, which now had a curtain opening to reveal a crowd of intimidating, imposing figures.

The first, noticeable one was tall, lean, with long reddish pink hair. From the whispers around me, this man was Kojiro Shinomiya, the Japanese prodigy of French Cuisine. A woman next to her with a very calm, motherly smile as she observed the crowd was apparently named Hinako Inui. Next to her, in much more revealing dress, was a tan, blonde woman with very apparent assets; this was Totsuki alumnus Ikumi Mito. Next to her was our own French Cuisine instructor, Megumi Tadokoro. Sastoshi Isshiki was also present onstage. There were several more on stage, but I wasn't able to match faces with the multiple names being whispered around me with awe. One of them, a tan man with grey hair, stepped forward and sniffed the air. _That's… weird_ I thought of how a dog would do the same thing.

"You there, with the red hair and green eyes." His voice was almost emotionless as he pointed in my vicinity.

"M-me?" Lyra asked aloud, her hands twitching on either side of her.

"Yes, but no." The man said. "The girl to your left with lilac scented perfume, along with the boy with the lemon scented shampoo next to her. You're both expelled." Extremely glad that Lyra wasn't at the end of that stick, but curious as to the reasoning behind the expulsion, I listened closely after the two aforementioned students cried in protest.

"Do you wish to ruin our kitchens and our menus with your offending scents?" This time, Chef Shinomiya stepped forward and spoke; apparently, they were on the same page. "You're fired, expelled. Leave our sight, or you will be escorted from the premises personally." As the students eventually, yet reluctantly, followed orders, Shinomiya turned to the dark-skinned man. "I see your nose has not dulled yet, Akira Hayama."

"Please, do not let this discourage you all from trying your best!" Isshiki's voice boomed, despite not standing at the podium. "But be wary of your skills and every detail of your life from here on, as it will greatly impact you as a chef!"

"Well said, Satoshi Isshiki." Dojima Gin attracted the crowd's attention back unto himself. He looked down at his watch. "You will now be separated into groups and escorted via bus to your first specialized classes in an hour. Prepare yourselves." With that, all the figures standing on the stage exited and allowed the curtains to close. Meanwhile, men labelled as Totsuki Resort officials in the crowd began forming the masses into organized groups and assigning buses. Luckily for me, Lyra and Blake were in my group. Steven, Kyu, and Derya were cast into another. I only prayed we'd be able to make it back as a group in one piece.

 **Authors Note: Heyo all, BleachCadelina here with a short update in the middle of English class.**

 **Sorry for the short chapter this time around, but I at least wanted to set up the Training Camp Arc instead of diving right into it. Hope you enjoy reading it either way. See y'all next update! (which should be soon).**


	14. Chapter 14: Burns and Coolings

**Author's Note: Heyo all, BleachCadelina here! Sorry for the delay on this one, college and work has kept me very busy since the last update. I will be finishing this eventually, as I do have quite something planned for this story. I hope you enjoy the chapter. I'm not very good at writing the Hell Camp, but I at least wanted to get it out of the way before getting to the real meat of this story.**

 **ALSO PLEASE NOTE: THEY ARE ONLY 14, I WILL NOT BE MAKING RUE, LYRA, OR ANY OTHER STUDENT HERE ENGAGE IN ANYTHING R-18.**

 **Anyway, I'll see y'all in the next update. Leave your thoughts in the reviews and I may respond to it!**

 **. . . . .**

"Are you alright, Rue?" Blake asked me as he caught me looking at the clock for what felt like the millionth time during this Hell Camp session. "You've been looking quite stressed this entire time."

"Just keeping track of the boil, Blake." I said. "Don't wanna miss a beat!"

And of course we didn't, because Chef Shinomiya said he would absolutely expel anyone who did not follow his recette to the letter. I risked to see Lyra doing well with her partner on the assignment, showing no obvious signs of trouble. Then…

"You there!" Our strict instructor called out and pointed out to a long-haired boy near the rear of the room. "What are you adding to your boil right now?"

"S-star anise, s-sir?" The student managed under the heated glare of the light red-haired chef.

"And why is that?" The instructor's query went unanswered. "Does anyone see star anise on my recette on the board?" No one had to look at the board to answer correctly.

"No, chef." The entire class answered in unison. Chef Shinomiya turned his attention back to the stammering student.

"You're fired." He stated with finality. "Leave me kitchen at once." The student did as done so, and was neither the first nor last one to be fired.

Removing the lid from our boiling pan, I removed the properly cooked piece of beef flank meat and placed it on the plate in front of Blake, who then ladled out vegetables and mushrooms from the pot and onto the plate as well. I left the plating to the Italian youth, as he did his best to put the carrots, celery, and onions around the meat. I sliced the beef slowly, though there wasn't any resistance to it; this was a sign that the meat was perfectly tender. After pouring some of the now browned soup onto the platter and allowing Blake to finish the dish with some garnish made with a bit more of the leftover vegetables, we approached Chef Shinomiya's desk and bowed.

"Please, taste our dish, Chef!" Blake said for both of us, as I placed the Boeuf Bouilli a la Francaise in front of our instructor.

"Hmm…" Chef Shinomiya took his fork to poke at the beef. After he felt content with the way it was cooked, he sliced into the meat with a knife and took a bite. His reaction was nothing more than closed eyes and a deep breath. He put the fork down and looked to me and my partner and said, "You know how to read and follow directions, good. You pass."

"Thank you, Chef." I said before bowing one last time. I cast a quick wave to Lyra as we departed, as she had quite a proud smile when we walked from our station to present our dish.

 **. . . . .**

It was almost nerve-wracking in the lobby while I waited for the rest of our group to finish in their sections. Blake said he wanted to wait for everyone outside, so I let him go on his own. Imagine my surprise when none other than Aika approaching me with a small smile on her face. It was a proud one, but characteristically small.

"H-hello, Rue!" The shy girl greeted me her hands behind her back. "Is Lyra back yet?"

"No," I answered. "She's still at the Shinomiya section."

"D-do you think she f-f-failed?" I could see genuine concern in Aika's eyes. I shook my head.

"Nah," I answered. "I'm pretty confident she's smart enough to make it through."

"Aw, I'm glad to hear that, Rue." I turned to see my redheaded friend walking up to me and Aika from the lobby's entrance. "It's nice to know that you have some faith in me. Oh hey, Aika!" With that, the two girls begun to chatter as the lobby begun to fill up with students once again. However, it was quite obvious that there were less in attendance from when we started. Blake managed to round up Steven, Derya, and Kyu, yet another welcome sight!

"Hey guys!" I waved them over to our location. Once we finally got together in the slowly crowding lobby, we started talking animatedly about our tasks; Steven, Kyu and Derya had Chef Ikumi Mito. Her section had to cook using only aged meat. Luckily, Derya remembered the pineapple juice idea we had back in French Cooking class. Steven and Kyu seemed to get through Chef Mito's task quite easily. Suddenly, the painful noise known as feedback screeched through the air, ceasing all students' conversations and bringing our attention to the podium at the rear center of the room. Dojima Gin stood there once more and looked upon us with an indifferent gaze.

"Your numbers have come down from five hundred to approximately three hundred, maybe even less." The intimidating man announced. A concerned murmur echoed through the crowd. "Now, you see how even the smallest of mistakes can lead to a drastic change. Look around at your fellow students, as this may be the last time you see them in a chef's uniform." A tense pause. "Now, to declare tonight's task for you all is Madam Erina Nakiri of Totsuki Academy." The strawberry blonde Headmistress smiled at the man as she approached the podium, but it disappeared once she stood before the students.

"Tonight's challenge is what is called 'Tuesday Night,' for many professional chefs in this room and abroad." A few confused students made their feeling known when they turned to another, while a few others chuckled at the weird name. The Headmistress continued with her announcement, "You will all be expected to serve _two hundred_ dinners _each_ for our incoming guests tonight. Your dish will be provided in the hotel kitchens. Now, if the guests will enter and line up for dinner?"

As if they heard the cue from outside, a massive crowd of people. There had to be about a few hundred of them, but seeing how many there were, but there was a good chance that many of them were going to come back for seconds.

"Enter the kitchen! Instructors will be walking around to supervise, dismiss, and fire students. You have ten minutes to memorize the dinner meal. Go!"

The entire two-hundred-and-something crowd of students rushed into the kitchen to find hundreds of individual stations, all comprised of a small stove and had one pan and a pot sat on top. The ensemble was made complete with large refrigerators that most likely contained all the necessary ingredients. Looking to a laminated sheet of paper on the fridge, I saw that we were basically making beef teriyaki bento boxes, featuring shrimp tempura, fried rice with scrambled eggs, and seared tuna. I opened inside the appliance to see where each of these ingredients were and was very thankful that there was already batter for the tempura, previously prepared for us. That alone could have taken too much time away from cooking. Meat was marinating in several large tubs. A multitude of vegetables, which I would be using for the fried rice, was stored in drawers below them. There was large tubs of warm rice for me to share with an adjacent student. Luckily, it was Lyra!

"You ready, Rue?" She asked, her bright smile sparkling beautifully as usu— I mean, she smiled as she tied her long hair into a ponytail. "This shouldn't be too hard for us."

"Our restaurant experience definitely helps us here." I admitted, donning my own beanie to keep my messy hair up. "Just don't slip up, Lyra. I'll be waiting for you when I'm done."

" _You'll_ be waiting?" She asked, wearing a faux-offended expression. She stuck her tongue out at me before saying, "Keep the bed warm for me, then?"

"W-what?" I had to double-take after hearing that. "Excuse me."

"Well, we're all hanging out at your room as usual, yeah?" She asked, ever so optimistically. "Then I call dibs on sitting on your bed for when we play games."

"Sure." I rolled my eyes at the innuendo-loving girl. "Remember though, don't get too cocky here."

"I hear ya." She replied. Any further attempts at conversation was cut off by Madam Nakiri's voice calling into the kitchen.

"Three! Two! One!" There were a purposeful pause from our Headmistress as I brought my left hand up to kiss my ring. "Begin!"

I rushed to the sink at my station and very quickly and thoroughly washed my hands. I opened my fridge and got three pieces of marinated beef from a tub and put it on a plate. Pulling out a pan and pouring a bit of oil into it, I dropped the beef and pushed the pieces around with chopsticks. In a small pot next to this, I got some oil and started the heat under it. Hopping back to the fridge, I got out about three pre-battered shrimp and dropped them into the pot. I made sure the oil inside the pot wasn't too high, as I really didn't want any burns or worse, wasted oil. I kept a sieve close by, so I could quickly scoop them out when I saw they were floating. Turning back to the cooking beef, I made sure to separate the slices so they would cook evenly. Once the beef had cooked to about medium well, I removed them and put them into one of the tons of bento boxes that Lyra and I were meant to use and put up for the customers to take for dinner.

I immediately turned over to the fridge to retrieve scallions, onions, and garlic. I didn't need any new oil or seasoning, I simply chopped the vegetables quickly and took some rice and combined them into the still used pan. Getting an egg from the fridge, I cracked it into a bowl and whisked it with a fork before dumping it still spinning onto the cooking rice. From there, I took a wooden spoon and mixed the new combination so that bits of "scrambled egg" were seen past the near transparent onions slices and contrast against the white rice and green shallots. The leftover teriyaki marinade from the beef provided a bit of a dark color along with a mix of salty and sweet. Next was the small bit of tuna, which was the easiest part; all I did was let it sit and sear in the pan for about a minute on all sides. While that happened, I scooped out the cooked shrimp tempura and placed them in the bento box, and was later accompanied by the seared tuna. The fried rice filled in the last section of the box. I made sure it didn't look too messy, which was the closest thing I knew to plating a meal. I covered the now-complete meal and called out.

"Dish's done!" I heard a small chuckle from beside me.

"Really?" Lyra asked. "You're actually gonna keep saying that?"

"It works, Caldwell." I countered. "Don't sass me."

 **. . . . .**

My hands were wracked with pain. Yeah, I passed, but not without a bit of a sacrifice. To rush out my last three orders, I pulled out the frying shrimp tempura by hand and put them into the bento boxes. I could barely anything but scalding pain from the middle of my forearm down to my fingers. I made sure not to submerge my arm into the hotel's hot spring bath, because the heat would make it blister.

Lyra finished far before me, letting me know that she would meet me by my room to hang out. She wasn't there when I started making such a dumb decision, but damn it, I was so tired of waiting when I was so close to the goal! Eventually, I made it out of the dinner test and left to bathe. It was quiet, despite the number of other students bathing at the time. I assumed we were all just tired.

Clutching the soft bathrobe around my body to stay covered, I walked slowly back to my room. I was careful not to brush against anything so as not to irritate the damn injury. Finally reaching my room, I was greeted by the noise of just one person: Lyra Caldwell.

"Where's everyone, Lyra?" I asked.

"They all wanted to get some rest," she answered. "This one wasn't very easy on Derya and Steven."

"Yeah, it really got to some of us out there, didn't it?" I said. "Well, now what? I thought we were all gonna hang out tonight.

"I mean, we could always just still talk." Lyra suggested. "Like, can you believe these hotel rooms?"

"Yeah, my family couldn't hope to afford to stay an hour in here." I laughed.

"Tell me about it." Her eyes met mine for a second, then cast downward. "Any reason as to why you're still in a towel?"

"I thought I'd have some privacy to change into my pajamas, actually." Right when I said that, I felt like they were the wrong words to say as the redhead leaned in a little closer.

"Oh, but we quite a bit of privacy right now, don't we?" She teased.

"You're getting pretty bold." I teased back. "It wasn't too long ago that you had to run out of my room screaming because you saw me in my boxers."

"Oh, just go get changed already, you dummy." She laughed. I turned to pick up clothes from my luggage and made my way to the bathroom when Lyra had something to add, "Wait a sec, Rue—"

Suddenly, my left arm was on fire as her sudden grip around it sent a scalding pain through my body. I found myself on the floor in pain, grasping my arm after wrenching it from her grasp.

"O-oh my God, are you okay?" Lyra's eyes were wide with worry. "Did I pull too hard?"

"N-no," I replied through gritted teeth. "You just hit some occupational injuries."

"W-what?" She asked. While I couldn't pull out of this spot, I really didn't want to have her deal with something I could do on my own. "What do you mean by that?"

I sighed as I rolled up the robe's sleeve to reveal my quite red, burnt arm. She winced as she knelt down to examine it.

"If it helps, I've had worse." I said, trying to pick up the mood.

"Yeah, but this is the worst time to have it!" She cried. "You need both hands for tomorrow! We have Isshiki Satoshi's section tomorrow. There's no doubt he's gonna ask us to put one hundred percent for our dishes. This kind of injury could send you home, Rue."

"Then… now what?" I asked. Apparently, that was a dumb question, as she got up and reentered the bedroom part of my hotel room. She picked up the phone on the bedside table, giving me a look that was partly a scolding glare and partly a concerned, motherly look.

"Hello, concierge?" She greeted. "Yes, can I get two tubes of burn-ointment up to this room please? Yes, I'm part of the Totsuki event. Okay, thank you so much." She turned to me and said, "As much as I'd rather you didn't, you'll have to put pants on. The medicine's coming soon."

"Thanks, Lyra." I said, truly grateful I had someone with me who was thinking clearly.

"What did you even do, grab the tempura by hand?" She joked. Her smile fell instantly when she caught my gaze fall to the ground. "I had such faith in you."

"I was tired, alright?" I countered. "I just wanted to be done, and I had those last three orders left."

It was another minute or so when the concierge service knocked on my door to deliver the burn ointment, which I received so it didn't seem suspicious that Lyra was in my room; we are only minors, you know. I was also glad for their idea to add gauze bandages to the delivery.

"You're gonna get yourself badly injured and I'm not gonna be there to play nurse." She said, suddenly serious. "Please try not to do something stupid if I'm not there."

"I don't mind trying that all," I said. "If it means I get to be taken care of by someone I trust, then I'm all for it. Lyra smiled as she carefully applied the ointment on the bright red area on my left arm. I did my best not to wince and move when she started wrapping it with the gauze. When she was done, I put on a plain white t-shirt."Do I have to change this in the morning?"

"Do you know how to properly wrap this on your own?" She asked. I responded with a flat look, as if to say _Seriously?_ I could barely keep one end of the gauze down while she wrapped my arm. "Then what do you suggest? My room's on the opposite side of the—!" A tone rang from the phone, cutting her off.

"Notice, all Totsuki Students! This is your curfew call. You may not leave your rooms or face being punished or even disqualified from future Totsuki Camp sections. Lights Out is at 11 PM." Dojima Gin's voice announced flatly. "Your first assignment tomorrow morning will be briefed at 9 AM. Don't be late."

"So…" I did my best to absorb this circumstance.

"I… uh… guess I'll be staying here?" Lyra said, her cheeks were almost as red as my burnt arm.

"I'll take the floor, then." I said. "You can take the bed."

"No!" She cried. "You need comfort to help you heal. A relaxed body heals faster."

"Oh ok, mom." I rolled my eyes. "But you're not going to be sleeping on the floor either. It's the least I could do for your help tonight."

"Well…" Lyra's eye suddenly flashed with mischievous intent.

"What?" My eyes narrowed in cautious anticipation for her suggestion. "What is it?"

"We could share the bed." She said, winking at me. "Again." I took a breath, thinking of my next move; this was a test, wasn't it? She was pushing our little tease game again, and probably thought I wouldn't take it.

"Sure." I answered. Lyra seemed to flinch at my sudden acceptance." At least I'll have someone to help wake me up."

"And fall asleep." She winked again.

"No." I used my hand to draw and imaginary line between us. In response, she grabbed a pillow and symbolically held it between us. "We don't talk about this, ever. Deal?"

"Deal." She said, though she sounded too eager.

"Down girl!" I joked as we slowly rose to meet our _somewhat unfortunate_ situation.

"Tell that to yourself first." She countered, pointing at my pajama trousers; I didn't need to look down to know what she was implying, which I was secretly glad wasn't actually happening.

Tonight was going to be weird.


	15. Chapter 15: Just Leave It!

"So, Rue…" Blake's smug grin appeared at the corner of my sight, as he sat at the station immediately to my right. Isshiki Satoshi's task was a solo one, involving a small grill top and a small refrigerator. A small oven and sink were also there for us to use at each station. I was checking my station as I did my best to ignore the annoying Italian's bouncing eyebrows, but the torment just continued as he seemed to edge closer and called my name.

"What, Blake?" I did my best to give him a neutral smile, but something about his own smile put me off. Don't know why, though.

"How was the night with Lyra?" He asked.

Ah yes. That's why.

"Fairly tame," I replied, keeping my tone even. "I slept on the floor."

"So you two didn't even make it to the bed?" Blake joked. I could see Lyra on the other side of the room, being interrogated by Derya and Kyu. Steven was somewhere in the back of the room, though I couldn't find him amongst the multitude of heads.

"I hate you, Belladonna." I replied, shaking my head with a smile.

"You don't refute it?" He added on.

"Only because you'd only take it as denial." I pointed out.

"Yeah, probably." He shrugged, then turned back to his own station to check whatever else was at out disposal. Beyond him, I saw Kyu laugh and lightly jab at Lyra's stomach at which the redhead blushed heavily and shook her head adamantly. I suppose they were teasing her as well.

"So," My Italian buddy spoke up again. "Did you two actually…"

I responded with a soft, disappointed glare. He nodded in meek understand and stepped back, turning back to his station once again just in time as our task leader had just entered the room. Satoshi was wearing a pure white chef's outfit, looking immaculate against the metal fridges behind him at the front of the room. The entire room went silent, preparing to hear instructions.

"Hello, everyone!" Satoshi shot a bright smile that lit up the room. "Ah, to see you all determined and ready for the task, is this not the pure image of youth at Totsuki?" After no one seemed to know how to respond, the chef continued. "Now, for the task at hand. While Spring is my favorite season, I must say Summer can be quite beautiful. A time for friendship, family, and fun! And a staple of the time is grilled food!" He gestured to the giant fridges behind him. "I have a multitude of meats and vegetables here for your disposal. You have until 2 PM to cook me something that would define your summer. Begin!"

At that, I kissed my black ring on my left hand and washed my hands thoroughly. I then ran over to one of the fridges and found my best culinary friend: meat. Thankfully, the choice cuts were available as both whole and ground meats.

 _Summer._ I contemplated, glancing over all of the labels on the meat packaging. _What was a popular summer item back then?_ My eyes turned to the ground beef and landed on something peculiar. Ground bison meat was something I had never worked with before, and I really wanted to experiment. However, I felt that it would be missing something. Then another, smaller package caught my eye. Without any more hesitation, I grabbed that package along with a mound of the ground bison meat.

Placing the both on my station, I immediately opened the smaller pack with a little excitement as I revealed a couple small strips of brisket, ready to be seasoned and cooked. Running over to another set of cabinets on the side of the room, along with Derya who grabbed bottles of mango puree with a confident smile; The Hawaiian would definitely have quite the advantage in terms of summer flavor. I grabbed salt, pepper, and garlic and onion powders. I made a second trip for a bit of sugar and bay leaves. A third trip yielded mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, paprika, cayenne, and a small cup of pickle juice.

I rubbed dry powder seasonings on the brisket slice in an oven pan and set it to roast in a bit of beef broth littered with bay leaves. While that cooked rather slowly, I turned back to the bison meat and realized I was missing something. I made _another_ run to the supplies cabinet and procured some breadcrumbs and a bit of Worcestershire sauce and put an amount of both into a metal bowl. I took the bison meat and, by hand, meshed and folded and rolled. I repeated this until I got a relatively "solid" mound of bison burger patty. I then turned on the grill before dabbing a bit of cooking oil on the patty and seasoning it with salt and pepper. It would take a while for the grill to heat up, so I brought up another bowl.

In it, I mixed mayo, ketchup, mustard, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and just a _little_ bit of the pickle juice. I learned about this mixture back while I was training in the restaurant, as my trainer back then was very big on sauces. I kept mixing until I got a light orange color. Running over to the fridge once more, I got a few leaves of spinach, a small tomato, and an avocado. Looking at the clock, I had about another hour left after all that prep work.

After washing the spinach and lightly cooking them in a pan with oil for about five minutes, I took it out and put it onto a plate next to some sliced tomatoes. Mashed avocado sat on the side as well. _That's basically, guacamole, right?_ I didn't want to make it too strong, just something cool to go with the slightly tangy mayo. I then decided, after testing by hovering a hand over it, that my grill was ready and placed my bison burger onto it and smiled at the familiar sizzling noise. A bell rang, signifying that we had only 30 minutes left. I had caught moments of students approaching Satoshi with their platters, though very few people had passed. Some of them had enough time to try to fix their dishes. I made to remove my brisket from my oven when I heard Derya approach our instructor. As I brought out my roasted piece and let it cool on a cutting board, I caught pieces of their conversation.

"Grilled pork with a mango salsa?" The chef said. "Interesting."

I smiled at the following announcement that my fellow Polar Star student passed the test and was let free. There was much praise for her braising and whatnot, things that didn't necessarily concern me. I cut the brisket into small strips then turned to flip over my bison burger. I made sure to place a slice of cheese and got the other ingredients ready. As such, I got some melted butter on two pieces of a potato bread roll and placed them onto the grill. After about another minute and a half, I lifted both the bun and the cooked patty from the grill. Of course, I placed the patty on the bottom bun. On top of it, I put the mashed avocado and the sliced brisket. On the top bun, I put the sauce I made earlier along with the spinach and tomatoes. Putting it all together, I felt like it was the best looking platter I'd made so far in Totsuki. Looking up, Blake, Lyra, and Kyu were no longer in the room as well. I took my plate and approached Satoshi with confidence.

"Dish's done, chef!" My announcement was greeted with a warm smile as he picked up my burger and looking through it's ingredients.

"Bison burger, I believe." He assessed. "Why?"

"I just… winged it, I guess?" I didn't really know myself, but I wanted to be honest. "I felt like a regular beef burger would have been too boring."

"Hmm…" Was all he said before finally taking a bite out of my dish. His eyes widened with surprise as he smiled again. After chewing and swallowing a few more bites, he turned back to me. "You know your way around mixing sauces and meats, young Rue. That's a dangerous weapon you've got. Go on then, you've passed."

"Thank you, chef!" I nodded in thanks as he dismissed me.

 **. . . . .**

"There he is!" Kyu called out as I exited, grouped up with the rest of our normal group. Lyra seemed subdued. "There's the dad-to-be!"

"S-shut up!" My redheaded best friend slapped Kyu's shoulder, though the latter girl only laughed.

"Sorry, it's too easy now!" The pinkette joked.

"I'm glad we all passed." Steven said. "Apparently more than half of the students in our course were rejected."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." I replied.

"Well," Lyra spoke up this time. "You seemed deadest on getting your stuff done out there, running back and forth. Like a demon, really!"

"Was that the only place he was a demon, Lyra?" Derya cut in.

"Derya!" Lyra cried, face-palming. "Not you too!" The Hawaiian girl simply giggled behind her hands at the sight. Suddenly, we were shocked into seriousness as a tone rang through the resort's intercoms.

"Attention all remaining Totsuki students. Tomorrow is your final and most difficult test." Erina Nakiri's authority rang through the building's halls. "You have been placed in small restaurant groups with your fellow dorm members. With them you must plan a menu that incorporates a certain ingredient. You have the rest of today to plan and experiment with your groupmates, whose names have been sent to you via text."

Thankfully, the received text had all our names. Myself, Lyra, Steven, Kyu, Blake, and Derya. Plenty enough to run different kinds of stations in a kitchen.

"Your special ingredient to be used in _all of your menu's dishes_ …"

My heartbeat with anticipation. I could hear Blake gulp and take a deep breath. I saw Derya's hands come together in almost a prayer-like stance.

"… Cheese!"

"That… sounds like it'll be good." Lyra said.

"More like it'll be… gouda?" Kyu smiled confidently, though the rest of us just walked away. "Hey, I thought it was funny!"

 **Author's Note: Heyo everyone! BleachCadelina here with another long-awaited update to my first FFnet story! Sorry for the wait, the college semester just ended (with good results!) and I'm picking up more shifts at work now. Gotta make that money, y'know. But I still will have some free time to write for this and my other fics here.**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading! Thanks!**


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